Compulsion
by Izaquix078
Summary: Sick of being scorned, Sakuno Ryuzaki believed that the only thing that can help her now is to use shortcuts…A.K.A. DRUGS. Chapter 5: She was the victim here and no one is even willing enough to comfort her when she needed it the most. RyoSaku. HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Welcome everyone to my new story! I know that I haven't been updating my stories for a long time but don't worry, I'll make sure that there will be updates after my graduation which is on March 25. So until then, please wait.

This is also my very first RyoSaku fic here in FanFiction so please go easy on me.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Title:** Compulsion

**Pairing:** Sakuno Ryuzaki and Ryoma Echizen

**Genre:** Romance, Angst, Drama, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Family, Reality…

**Point of View:** Third Person and also a narrative story.

**Note: **_Italic _is used when the person is thinking and **Bold** is for background music or change in setting.

**Warning:** Ratings may go up. Violence, physical and verbal abuse, sexual contents and any adult discussions included. No offensive actions to the readers intended. If you feel offended at the story's contents then please leave.

**Summary:** Sick of being scorned, Sakuno Ryuzaki believed that the only thing that can help her now is to use shortcuts…A.K.A. DRUGS.

**Timeline: **Setting set on High School.

Inspired by a certain Manga Book.

X0X0X0X0X0X

**Chapter 1: **Insecurities

**Sigh**

"I wonder what's taking her so long."

A girl with long twin-braided auburn hair was patiently standing inside the dressing room, waiting for her boisterous friend who was still looking for various outfits for her to try on.

_Of all the days that she could spoil, why Sunday?_ She would ask that repeatedly inside her mind, like a cassette tape that keeps on reeling over and over again. Her best friend said she's doing this for her sake. Not that Sakuno didn't appreciate her help but still, this is just too much.

Again, she sighed. Really, when would Tomoka quit doing this to her? It was only 6 o'clock in the morning and the high pigtailed girl already barged in to her room, mercilessly dragging her out of her deep slumber just to go shopping with her. It's even surprising that there's a department store open at this early hour.

"I should be sleeping at this time of hour than to be here." She complained lowly, careful not to let her noisy friend hear her from the outside.

"Here, wear this."

"Eh?"

Instantaneously, piles of clothing were tossed above the girl's head, almost covering her whole with it.

"Ah! Oof!" She grunted breathlessly under the thick fabrics.

"Oi Sakuno, are you alright in there?" A loud voice asked from outside the room.

The girl began pulling the clothes off, stammering out a quick reply. "Y-yes, I'm fine."

"Good then start wearing those clothes." The voice commanded.

"Okay" She answered, picking up the heap of clothes that were lying innocently on the cold floor.

She looked at them for a moment and then shook her head.

_Simple but Sexy. It's very typical of you to choose this kind of wear, Tomo-chan._

"Sakuno…" came her friend's impatient murmur, tapping her foot in the process. "I didn't hear any sounds of you changing. We don't have all day you know."

Sakuno gave out an apologetic laugh, scratching the back of her thick auburn hair. "Sorry, I'll do it right away."

She started digging through the clothes. She had to admit. These clothes are very striking indeed.

She smiled once more. _Tomo-chan really does have a good sense of fashion._

She expected that from her best friend of 5 years. Having boys stalking her wherever she goes, asking her almost every day to go out with them on a date…Tomoka is one of those popular girls in their school that had blossomed from a little duckling to a beautiful swan.

It all started when they reached 2nd year of their middle school. Apparently, some of Tomoka's body parts started changing due to puberty. Because of that, boys began treating her differently. Not as a young girl but a young woman like what she is today.

As for her, well it was a different story. When she was in middle school, people had different predictions of what she would look like when she gets older. With her innocent look and pretty face, everyone thought that she would be the one who would bear a raving beauty than her friend. However, things turned out really wrong as what they had forecasted to be.

It was the other way around.

Snapping back to reality, she was back to her digging business. She noticed that everything that her vociferous friend had chosen was too much for her own liking.

Not that she hates them. As a teenager, she knows that teens nowadays wore something fashionable and trendy. Not just teens but also the adults and the younger ones. In our age, everyone knows that fashion is something to be recognized of. It literally shows who you are as a person and what you are in life.

Sakuno once confesses that she too wanted to be like those people. However, as much as she wanted to, her body seems to be fighting against it.

You want to know why?

It is because Sakuno, the sweet, innocent and timid granddaughter of the infamous coach of Seigaku Middle School, is among those people who are slightly hefty.

In other words, she's admirably F.A.T.

She wasn't that fat really. She's more of a chubby kind of a person. You know…those cute people who had accidentally gained weight. You couldn't really say that she's overweight or plump.

She's just a little bit chubby.

The chubby girl breathed in almost audibly, turning around to take a good look at her self in front of the oval-shaped mirror.

At the sight that she was seeing right now was mind scaring. In her reflection was herself, wearing a micro mini black dress with floral pattern that sparks when it hits the sunlight. At the back were a red ribbon sticking out and a revealing cleavage in a v-shape form.

Don't get it wrong. The outfit wasn't bad at all. Actually, it's very sexy and very appealing to other people's sight. The one wearing it was the problem at hand though.

The clothing is too tight and too short for her. Not to mention that the material is made up of a very thin fabric with a tendency of tearing off if this keeps up any longer.

Sakuno diverted her eyes towards the door. "Tomo-chan, I don't think this would fit me either." She voiced out, stretching the fabric desperately to cover up the revealed lower portion of her body.

There was a creaking sound of the door and immediately, the said person appeared standing next to her.

She placed a reassuring hand to the braided girl's shoulder, also staring at her friend's mirror image before her.

She beamed a smile. "What are you talking about? That dress suits you well."

"But…" The girl started rather hesitantly, her eyes looking uncertain. "This dress…it's too thin and too short. I'd look like someone who just happens to mess herself pretty badly and this time I mean it."

The other girl rolled her eyes and dismissed the topic with a wave of a hand.

"Nonsense, you look fine with that dress. You look like a major superstar!" She exclaimed at the last part eloquently, exaggerating the word to the fullest with a dramatic snap of a finger.

The braided girl heaved out a defeated sigh; her eyes darted grimly onto the floor. "No matter what kind of clothes I wear, _he_ will never notice me." She said randomly in a soft whisper.

She cocked her head up, taking a quick glance at herself then back to the floor. "He likes slim girls and I'm fat. He'll never like someone who is fat like me." **Sigh** "I knew I should've stop eating three times in a day."

At her words, the girl with two high pigtails whipped her head to face the shy girl, her hands on her hips. "Are you insane?! If you do that, you'll die in starvation. Do you even want that to happen?"

"No"

"Then stop lowering yourself!" She reprimanded, her voice raised a little bit higher. "You know that body size doesn't matter. You're pretty enough to get his attention. You just need to make some changes."

"But-" Before she could say anything, the former cut her off by shutting her mouth with her finger.

"No Buts. After this, things will change from now on. Whether you like it or not, you and I mean you will go towards Ryoma-sama and confess your undying love towards him. Got it?" She muttered the last question in a demanding manner, as if ordering her around to do some household chores that a maid should do.

"Or else, I'll do it by myself."

"…"

"And to do this, you need to undergo Tomoka's special beautifying process!"

Sakuno chose to remain quiet, letting out another heavy sigh as a sweatdrop started to form in her head.

_No use in arguing with her. Once Tomo-chan is on fire, nothing's going to stop her._ She thought, giving off a small smile towards her overenthusiastic friend who is again indulged in picking different outfits from the display.

X0X0X0X0X0X

After shopping in different stores, the best of friends, Sakuno and Tomoka are now walking leisurely in the sidewalk with purchased outfits at each hand.

The timid girl looked upwards, her chocolate eyes greeting the intense light from the glaring sun. Afterwards, she stole a glance at her wristwatch.

"9 o'clock. Time seems to fly so fast these days." She said silently to herself. She didn't even notice that they have already wasted two hours just for this.

Stifling out an exasperated sigh, she realized that she had being doing this a lot lately. Either that or she easily gets disappointed.

"Sakuno, are you okay?" Her best friend inquired worriedly, noticing her friend's odd behavior.

The former faced her and forced a smile. "I'm fine, Tomo-chan. No worries."

The other girl had scrunched her eyebrows, her eyes staring at her warily. "Are you tired? We could always stop by at some nearby restaurant to take a rest." With this, Sakuno's head shot up to face her.

Seeing the happy look on her face, she continued, "And no, we won't be ordering any food for you. Who knows how many calories you are going to gain again."

The lass's shoulders slumped in disappointment at her words.

_Oh well, I can eat as much as I want when we get home anyways._ She mentally told herself. _And this time, I'll take low-fat foods._

"Anyways if you're not tired yet, why don't we-"

**Ring! Ring!**

"Oh, someone's calling me. Hold on a sec." Tomoka instantly flipped her phone open and began talking to the caller.

"Hello, this is Tomoka. Who's this?" A long pause. "Ah Momo-senpai! Huh? Yes, yes of course why not?"

Sakuno watched from the sidelines at their conversation. _I wonder what she and Momo-senpai are talking about._

"Actually, Sakuno and I have been shopping…no you're not disturbing us, we're done shopping…don't worry we'll meet you two there…yes, yes bye." The pigtailed girl flipped her phone close and turned to look at her friend with a wide smile.

"What are you and Momo-senpai talking about, Tomo-chan?" The innocent Sakuno asked enquiringly, tilting her head to the left side.

Her smile broadened. "Momo-senpai wanted to meet us at the A-burger to meet him along with someone."

Blinking, Sakuno tilted her to the right side and Tomoka could only sigh at her denseness.

"It's Ryoma-sama, silly."

Hearing his name, her blood rose to her cheeks. "R-Ryoma-kun?"

"Yes" Ryoma's self-proclaimed president of his club took a hold of her hand and started dragging her. "Now let's go. We don't want our Prince waiting."

"O-of course…"

X0X0X0X0X0X

"Man…what's taking them so long?" Momoshiro asked in his seat, glancing at his watch every now and then.

He and his companion were sitting near the window, watching as people getting inside the joint one by one. Even in the midst of morning, the place is packed up with all the costumers lining up and all.

His friend grumbled across from him, mumbling things like "Why am I even here?" or "This is a waste of my time. I should be sleeping at my house" or something along those lines.

The spiked haired boy turned his attention to him, having enough of his complaints and said, "Will you stop complaining already? You've been doing that for the past 15 minutes."

The boy with slick black hair and green highlights gave him an annoyed look, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I have every right to. You said earlier on the phone that you want to meet me because you have something important to say to me. I'm here now so why won't you start talking?" His eyes darkened. "Unless this is just another lame excuse so that you could borrow some money to me and if it is then forget it."

The junior student rubbed his black hair and started laughing.

"Aw c'mon Echizen, am I really like that right?"

The younger boy looked outside the window, glaring whatever was in there.

"Aren't you always?" came his curt reply, thus making his fellow teammate fell on his seat.

He put on a dramatic act. "Hey, that hurts Echizen; you have no respect to your senpai!"

"Che. Stop the drama act and just tell me what it is that you wanted to say to me or else I'll leave."

The aggressive baseliner stood up from the floor and sat back to his chair. "Alright, alright I'll tell you but first we need to wait for Osakada-chan and Ryuzaki-chan."

His eyebrows rose._ Ryuzaki's coming?_ "Why?"

Momo shrugged his shoulders as a reply, crossing his arms behind his head. A mischievous smirk slowly gracing on his lips.

"You'll see."

Ryoma looked away. "Whatever."

"Ryoma-sama! Momo-senpai!"

The two boys quickly diverted their eyes to the new voice. It was Tomoka with paper bags swinging violently in her hands as she ran towards them.

_Great, it's that loud mouth again._ Ryoma thought grudgingly. For him, having her around would give him headaches, especially if she won't stop screaming his name from time to time.

She stopped from her tracks as she came to stand in front of them, her hands gripping on her knees in exhaustion. "Sorry we're late. There's a little trouble on our way here. Sorry."

The older boy flashed him a toothy grin. "It's alright, Osakada-chan. We didn't wait that long."

The tennis prince huffed grouchily. "Che. You're been complaining about them for taking too long a while ago."

"Echizen" The younger boy ignored him and went back to his window gazing, showing no interest whatsoever.

"Eh? Where's Ryuzaki-chan?" At the sound of her name, Ryoma's ears perked up in interest, still facing the window.

"Ah…she's at the bathroom; she'll be here any minute now."

"I see. Here, take a seat." Momo offered, tapping the vacant seat beside him. "You seem to be tired from all the running you did."

She gave him a grateful smile and sat on the offered seat. "Thanks, senpai."

Once she is settled in her seat, she faced her tennis idol and beamed a cheerful smile.

"Ryoma-sama, I'm so happy to see you here!"

"Hn" was his reply, not even giving her a side-glance.

"Ryoma-sama, Ryoma-sama, look!" She brought out the micro mini dress from the bag, showing it to Ryoma. "Sakuno and I went shopping just this morning. Do you think that this will look good on her?"

The tennis prince glanced at the outfit before he went back to his own world. "Hn"

"Man Echizen, show some enthusiasm will you? You sound like an old grumpy zombie from who knows where." Momoshiro stated, giving the younger boy a light poke in the arm.

Ryoma rubbed his arm gently, sending his senpai 'the look'. "That hurts."

"Ah, Momo-senpai, Tomo-chan…" A newcomer's voice suddenly echoed to their ears and the three quickly twirled around to see Sakuno standing before them.

The girl's attention suddenly fell to the tennis prince's direction. When his gaze met hers, heat started to rose from her neck to her face.

It seems that the saying is true after all. Old habits never die.

She bowed at him, beaming. "Ah, it's nice to see you here, Ryoma-kun."

The said boy abruptly lowered the brim of his cap, a pink tinge slowly creeping out on his face. "Hn"

"Eh? What about me?"

The braided girl giggled and said, "Of course, it's nice to see you too, Momo-senpai."

Slowly, a teasing grin appeared on his face. "Ne Ryuzaki-chan, why is it that when it comes to Ryoma you always act weird?"

Wide eyes shot open in astonishment, cheeks burning. "I…uh…ano…it's nothing like that…"

"Can we get on with this already? I don't have all day." Ryoma jumped in, saving the poor lass from her trouble.

The girl looked at him, thankful at his good timing.

The junior faked a cough. "Alright, alright, I'll start."

Once the girl is seated next to Ryoma, he began, "I've called you all in here about this one."

A loud thump was heard as he threw a rectangular object to the table. Curious enough, Sakuno and Tomoka peeked at the certain object while Ryoma stayed in his seat, unmoving.

The object that was on the table was a magazine.

Correction, a bathing suit magazine.

The cat-eyed boy's eyebrows twitched violently and turned to look at his senpai, his frown deepening. "Why are you showing us that? Don't tell me that you've develop a _thing_ for girls in bathing suits."

Momoshiro laughed loudly at this, earning looks from the different costumers before they resumed to their own business. "Don't make me laugh. Of course not."

"Then what's this about, Momo-senpai?" asked Sakuno, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, remember the time when we, together with the freshmen and the rest of the regulars went to the beach last month?" He asked, hoping that they could still recall about it.

Confused, the two girls looked at each other and blinked before they turned to face him once again.

"Yes, what about it?"

"Did you also remember when a stranger with a camera at hand took a picture of each of us?"

There was silence among the four of them. Suddenly the brown-haired girl's eyes lit up, beaming brightly when a certain memory struck her.

"Oh yeah, he said that he works as a photographer in some magazine company but-" She grabbed the material and took a closer look. In the cover page were all of them together, smiling in their swimming suits under the heat of the sun.

"I've never really thought that he was telling the truth about him being a photographer."

"That's what I thought too." Momo stated truthfully.

"Hmm…I wonder what we all look like in here." Tomoka muttered inquisitively, opening the article.

Taking her eyes off the paper, Sakuno asked, "How did you know about this, Momo-senpai?"

He scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "Well actually, that magazine is from my little sister. She's really fond of those things. She gave it to me when she saw our pictures posted in it."

"Oh"

"Tch" came Ryoma's irritated huff, standing up from his seat. "I woke up early just for this? That's it, I'm leaving."

"H-hey, Echizen!" He was just about to leave the place when Tomoka's sudden scream halted him from his steps.

"Wah! Look at us. Everyone's here!"

"Eh? Really?" asked Sakuno, closing in to take a peek.

As Tomoka flipped the pages of the magazine, she saw two of her senpais posing as swimsuit models from Eiji and Oishi pair to Inui and Kaidoh pair. Even the Freshmen Trio was there. The rest who has strong charisma like Fuji and Tezuka had their own solo pictures of their own. It was really expected, considering the two had their own fan clubs with their good looks and all.

The loud mouth's cheeks burned, showing her girlish side as she squeaked a high-pitched sound.

"Ahh! Oh my god, you all look hot in here!"

Momo chuckled lightly, blushing in embarrassment. "Eh? You think so Osakada-chan? I thought I don't look good in there because one of my hair strands fell on my eyes."

She shook her head relentlessly. "Of course you look good, senpai! The strand gives away your awesome manliness."

"Tch. Yeah right." was Ryoma's indignant remark, rolling his eyes repulsively. Afterwards he sat back to his seat and decided to stay for a little while.

Not that their appearances on the magazine interest him.

"Oh that reminds me. I'm sure that guy took a picture of you too, Ryoma-sama." **Flip. Flip. Flip. **"Ah lookie! You're here too, Ryoma-sama!" In an instant, the three of them shifted their gazes to the laid out magazine.

There he was. The great Ryoma Echizen himself with a bored look on his face. He was wearing summer shorts with no shirt on the top, revealing his well-toned upper body.

Sakuno was blushing madly as red as a human tomato. It was as if her blood had drained out and was now concentrating in her face. Seeing Ryoma topless on the paper was not just an ordinary scene you could just see everyday.

Especially if we're talking about Ryoma Echizen in here.

The second year high school student shook his head in dissatisfaction, seeing Ryoma's blank expression on the paper.

"Even in the pictures too? Man Echizen, you should really smile more often. You're really starting to act like our grumpy buchou."

X0X0X0X0X0X

**At Tezuka's household…**

"Achoo!" Tezuka sniffed, wrinkling his nose as he massaged his nose gently. He was sitting in his study table doing his math homework, his notebooks scattered in front of him.

He swiftly shifted his gaze towards the window, face unchanging.

"Odd…the window is closed." He then resumed in his studies, assuming that it was probably nothing and that someone must've remembered him today.

X0X0X0X0X0X

**Back to the A-burger joint…**

Unable to control anymore Tomoka screamed, jumping up and down in her seat.

"Waah! Ryoma-sama, you look so cool in here!"

"T-Tomo-chan, please lower your voice. You're attracting many people." The timid girl muttered lowly when people started to look in their way for the second time.

She beamed cheekily at her. "Sorry, I can't help it really."

"Damn, this means Echizen's going to have many admirers than I have. I knew I should've used that extra hold hair gel."

Ryoma did nothing and chose to remain quiet. He was busy thinking of something else from this moment.

He wondered that if many female species would be able to read that article, that would mean there would be crazier fan girls and when there are crazy fan girls…life for him is like living in a one big hell.

He shuddered as he imagined himself being surrounded by lunatic, hungry, obsessed girls wanting to reach out to him again. Trust the man who has experienced their evil wrath before.

Ryoma hauled out a sigh, careful not to alert anyone for the matter.

_Well, it isn't that half-bad._ He thought. _At least someone doesn't want to throttle me like those girls._ He added, referring to a certain braided girl that he had been keeping an eye for a long time.

He doesn't know when it all started. He remembered that he and the coach's granddaughter were friends since middle school. Well, not really friends he assumed but more of an acquaintances. He wasn't really a sociable type of a person. Plus, Sakuno was also a shy girl, that's why they weren't that close to each other.

Of course, he knew that the girl has a huge crush of him since then. He wasn't that dense not to see that. Underneath his fake façade, he could see it in her eyes. The way it twinkled in admiration, the way it sparkled brightly to be with his presence.

Even he hate to admit it, he liked it bit by bit. Especially when he's able to make her blush whenever she wanted to congratulate him on winning a match, saying good luck to him or just to be around him.

But when they reached high school, that's when he started looking at her in a different way.

He was looking at her more often and would sometimes follow her silently in her way back home to school. He felt very bad, thinking that if she knows this she might think that he's a stalker. In fact, he was having these weird dreams that he and Ryuzaki were having inconceivable moments together every night.

The reason why he's been tracking her for the past few years now is to know what exactly was happening to him. Otherwise, he might end up going nuts with all the thinking and the never-ending dreams he's having.

Nevertheless, a question didn't escape his confused mind. Of all the girls in their school that he could dream of, why her? That he didn't know. She wasn't that beautiful. She also wasn't that bright and talented either. Heck, she wasn't even sexy as all those girls he had seen in his father's sexy magazine. Not that he was looking at it because it was only an accident without him knowing that the book he was reading belonged to his idiotic father. She's even a klutz and too shy for his own liking so why?

He stared at her once again and this time with his cap covering his eyes. _Maybe…maybe it's because she's different with the others._ He thought matter-of-factly._ That must be it. But then again-_

"Yehey! I'm also here."

Sakuno smiled warmly at her friend. "You look great in there, Tomo-chan."

"Thanks. Hey…" She trailed off, leaning to her friend's face with a devious smirk playing on her lips. "Let's see your picture in here shall we?"

The chubby girl blinked at this.

"E-eh? M-my picture? But Tomo-chan, I don't think it's necessary." No use. The girl didn't listen to her for she was practically absorbed in finding her friend's photo.

After a few minutes of continuous flipping of pages, Tomoka had finally found it. However, the sight that greeted her eyes was not the one she had expected.

Soon enough the loud girl found herself twitching.

"Huh? Wha-what the hell is this!" She asked furiously. The paper at her hands shook terribly out of anger.

"What is it, Tomo-chan?" The other girl inquired curiously. She stood up, trying to know what had made her friend act weird all of the sudden.

Unfortunately, before she could lay her eyes on it, Tomoka had already hid the object to her chest all the while laughing nervously which only doubled the girl's curiosity. Momo and Ryoma could only look at her with bemused looks.

"I-it's n-nothing really. Nothing at all."

The younger Ryuzaki scowled at her false words. She knew that she was lying. If she wouldn't tell her what the problem is then the only way to know it is to steal the article from her.

However, before she could even do it, Momoshiro had already beaten her from doing it.

"Mine! Now let's see what's in he-" He stopped in mid-sentence. His eyes growing like big plates.

At first, there was silence. Then there was a restrained laughter from Momoshiro until he finally lost it and broke. When he had locked his gaze at Tomoka who was glaring daggers at him, he immediately stopped.

"W-what's the matter, Momo-senpai?" asked Sakuno. She was having a weird tingling feeling inside her, saying that something was very wrong in the scene. "Is something funny?"

The only upperclassman in the group started to panic and was now giving Tomoka secret glances, as if asking for her help. Trouble is that the girl too has no idea what to say to her either.

Then an idea flashed inside her head like a light bulb. _This might be lame but I hope that she'll buy it._

She grinned cheekily, a small laugh escaping in her lips. "Well, w-why don't we talk about uh…your vacation, Sakuno-chan? I'm sure Momo-senpai would be very thrilled to know about your vacation in Osaka."

"Okinawa, Tomo-chan. I told you it was in Okinawa." The other girl corrected, her suspicion about the whole situation increased.

She scratched the back of her head in a sheepish manner. "Ha ha! O-of course it's in Okinawa. It's what I just-"

"Echizen! Give that back!" shouted Momo, suddenly interrupting her from her speech.

Momoshiro was distraughtly trying to take the article away from him. Sad to say, Ryoma's grip on the object was too firm for him to get it. Also, he kept on dodging his senpai's prying arms every time he tries to grab the said paper.

The moment the young prodigy locked his gaze at the open page, his eyebrows rose and then stole a glance at his seatmate before settling it back to the paper.

"I'm warning you, Echizen. I said give it back!"

"Ne Ryuzaki…" He started off, glancing at his companion who sat beside him. "Seems that you're the most voted bikini model of the month."

She arched an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?"

Across from their seats, Tomoka and Momo started waving their hands and shaking their heads frantically, trying to give him the message not to say anything. They feared that if Ryoma were to reveal the contents of that page, the girl might feel offended and disappointed. They know too well how sensitive the girl can be.

Unfortunately for them, he wasn't able to grasp that part.

Being the dense person as he has always been, he ignored them and mindlessly showed the certain page.

That's when trouble began.

Leave it to Ryoma to worsen the situation at hand.

Silence engulfed the four of them after that. No one dare to speak a word. All they could hear right now was other people chattering away and the creaking sound of the front door as a new costumers entered the place to eat their breakfast.

Sakuno's expression was priceless, silent as she remained rooted to her seat. She was motionless and didn't even bother to blink her eyes for she was busy staring at the paper in his hands.

Few minutes passed, the girl lowered her head, her bangs completely covering her eyes.

The older teen of the group looked at her in pity, muttering dozens of apologies over and over again while her female friend patted her arm, forcing a smile.

"Don't be sad, Sakuno. Look, you didn't look that bad. It's just showbiz."

"…"

"Think of it as uh…entertainment." Right at that moment, the pigtailed girl already regretted what she had said and wished that her mouth would just stop talking for once.

"Entertainment?" Sakuno cocked her head and looked at her in the eye, anger burning within. "Are you implying that me being fat is entertaining in the eyes of others?"

"H-huh? N-no...i-it's nothing like-"

"Of course it's something like that! That's the reason why Momo-senpai laughed in the first place."

Momo felt guilt-ridden. After all, what she had said was true. "Ryuzaki-chan, I-I really didn't mean to-"

A screeching sound of a chair was heard on the background. "If you all excuse me, I need to go home now. I think I can handle enough insults for one day." She said, turning her heels and marched away from the place without sparing a single glance.

She ran as far away as possible, stream of tears rolling down from her eyes.

_I can't believe them. Why are they like that? I thought they were my friends!_

For once, she wished she could just disappear in this world and hide in the depth of the earth's core forever rather than facing the upcoming humiliation that would be soon bestowed upon her. She'd rather live her life in iniquity than to live as an abandoned outcast in the society.

Not knowing that her wish is slowly coming true.

* * *

I hope you all enjoyed reading this fic because it literally took me three days just to come up with this one. I also apologize for the very long chapter. Don't worry, next time I'll try making it shorter.

If you have any comments or complaints, please feel free to review whenever you like as long as it consist of constructive criticism.

Once again, thank you very much for your time.

Riza


	2. Chapter 2

_Second chapter is up, my friends!_

_To all those readers who reviewed...thank you very much for the lovely messages! X)  
_

**Warning: **Swearing is up ahead...

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 2:** Derisions

"Sakuno, wait!" Tomoka shouted in distress, running to go after her. She was so engrossed into making up with her friend that she didn't even bother to say goodbye to the two youngsters that she left behind.

"Sakuno, Sakuno wait! P-please let me explain first! Sakuno!"

"Go away!" The other snapped back, hot tears flowing against the wind from her eyes.

_I knew you people were only befriending me. Because…because…_

"Sakuno!" Her friend called out once more. Sadly, the girl didn't stop and only doubled her speed.

Tomoka continued to run, trying to catch up to her as fast as she can. But no matter what she does, she still couldn't outrun her with her slow pace especially with all the bags she's carrying.

It didn't take 5 minutes before Tomoka's legs finally gave up and dropped into the floor, panting hard. She looked at the path in front of her, disappointed that the braided girl was no longer seen in her vision.

If only she wasn't carrying too many loads...

"Sakuno…"

X0X0X0X0X0X

When the two girls were out of their sight, Momo's expression changed significantly. He turned his gaze to the only one sitting across him, his purple eyes glowering.

"What the hell was that about, huh Echizen?!"

The said boy raised him an eyebrow. "About what?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Momoshiro slammed his fist on the table angrily, making the glassware jumped in its place.

"You know what I'm talking about. You shouldn't have told her that!"

"I was only telling her what I've seen. She was asking for it." was the young prodigy's nonchalant reply, accompanied with an uninterested shrug. He then took a glass of water in the table, drinking its contents to relieve his thirst.

The spiky-haired boy gritted his teeth in annoyance. Sometimes, he hates that attitude of his. "Still…you shouldn't have told her about that. You know how sensitive and emotional she can be when it comes to her physical figure. You have totally offended her!"

Seigaku's pillar of support placed the now empty glass back to its place and stared at his senpai once more, frowning. "You talk as if I was the one at fault here. I wasn't the one laughing at her in the first place."

"That…" A large lump started to form in his throat, stopping him from talking any further. It seems that Ryoma had once again hit him in the can this time.

_Damn, I hate that guts of him._ "That's not the point here!" He managed to say it aloud.

"Oh? Then what is it?"

"It's…ugh, forget it." He said, his hands holding his face in frustration. After a few seconds, he was able to regain his cool composure back again.

He looked at his kouhai with tired eyes, heaving out a defeated sigh. "You're unbelievable, don't you know that?"

The lad looked away, his face well hidden in his Fila cap.

Another temporarily silence befalls the two of them. Neither of them spoke for the moment. While they were having the moment of their own, Ryoma had coincidentally landed his eyes on the article.

He strained his eyes to look at it more closely. In the opened page was undeniably Sakuno, smiling as she stood in the beach sand with her hands well hidden at her back. She was wearing a pink swimsuit with a v-strap tied around her neck and laces at each side of her thong, showing her unwanted body fat in her legs that she has been trying to hide for years now.

He continued to stare at it a bit longer. Then her pained words slipped into his mind.

"_Entertainment? Are you implying that me being fat is entertaining in the eyes of others?"_

He might have not understood before why she reacted that way but when he looked at her picture once more, a heavy weight made its way in his heart.

Why did he not notice this before? Any person who would see his or her picture like this would feel embarrassed and humiliated. Who wouldn't be?

Today, right at this moment, he felt like a total jackass.

A jerk for making a woman cry.

A jerk for making Sakuno cry.

He was being insensitive and unintentionally, he had hurt her inside.

"Sometimes…sometimes I wondered what she liked about you."

Ryoma could only look at his senpai as he resumed. "Your looks are obviously opposite to your attitude." He added disappointingly, shaking his head at the same time.

A small sigh break out from the tennis prince's thin lips, eaten by his own conscience.

"I also wondered about that myself."

X0X0X0X0X0X

She didn't stop. She didn't stop running despite her friend's pleading shouts. She was so upset. So upset that she couldn't even glance back at her or give her a time to say anything.

'_What are you talking about? Why give her a time to explain? She would only lie to you again.'_ A voice in her mind would say.

It was her conscience.

Knowing that her boisterous friend was no longer trailing her behind, she stopped to take a break. Her eyes were a little bit puffy from all the crying she did a while ago.

She glanced up into the blue sky, noticing that dark gray clouds are starting to conquer the clear atmosphere.

She strolled along the crowded sidewalk with her arms all wrapped around her, her head hung low. From her view, she could see many people running around to get some dry shelter. Probably because they were aware of the upcoming weather that would soon invade the busy city of Tokyo.

Soon enough, rain comes falling down, letting small droplets of water pouring into her clothes. She looked up to the moody sky again. No longer seeing the clear sky she once saw this morning.

A strained smile made its way to her face.

"I guess this is what fat people like me is destined for." She said randomly, a tear mixed with the rain came out of her swollen eyes.

X0X0X0X0X0X

**At Ryuzaki's Household…**

It was already late at night, probably around 10 o'clock in the evening. Normally, Sumire Ryuzaki would be seen sleeping at this hour. Being the tennis coach of a certain Seigaku Middle School, she would need a lot of energy in order to be fully energized for the upcoming day.

However, no matter how hard she tries to sleep, she could not close her tired eyes. Not when her granddaughter was still missing. She wanted to call Tomoka and the others, but knowing how late it is, she decided not to.

She began pacing back and forth inside the living room, anxiously fiddling with her fingers. If her grandchild doesn't come home soon, she might get sick from all the worrying she's doing right now and a sick Sumire Ryuzaki is not a good sign, especially in her age.

All of the sudden, a creaking sound from the front door of their house were heard.

"I'm home." The voice announced rather weakly and the old hag didn't bother asking who the intruder was since she already recognized the voice anywhere.

She directed her gaze towards the door and sure enough, it was her auburn-haired granddaughter leisurely entering the living room, all soaked and wet.

The old woman immediately ran towards her, embracing her tightly in her arms.

"Sakuno, where have you been? Don't you know how worried sick I am?"

The girl bowed her head apologetically, her bangs covering her damp face. "I'm sorry, Grandma."

The old woman then took a hold of her shoulders with a worried look. "Why are you wet? Did something happen? Tell me!"

"Nothing happened, Grandma. I was just…caught in the rain." She answered; her voice barely audible.

Regardless of how convincing she sounds, the older woman did not let it pass.

She knew something was amiss.

"Sakuno, look at me in the eye." She ordered.

No response

"Sakuno…" She called out again, this time with her voice rose a bit higher. Generally, she would only use that kind of tone to her club members who were slacking off during practice but at times like this, it cannot be avoided.

Thankfully, the girl did what she was told to do as she cocked her head up, meeting her grandmother's sharp scrutinizing gaze.

The second she saw her red puffy eyes, she frowned.

"You've been crying."

"Grandma…" came Sakuno's frail and weary voice. "I'm very, very tired. Please…let me go to my room."

If this were any of those ordinary days where Sakuno would come home late, she would scold her non-stop. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Today her granddaughter is undoubtedly gloomy.

What caused her unhappy state? That she didn't know. It was enough to know that her only precious grandchild was able to come home safe and unharmed.

She looked at her and sighed.

"Very well."

A faint smile graced on her pale features. "Thank you…"

Old Ryuzaki-sensei stayed on her spot once again; her worried eyes still fixed at the low-spirited Sakuno walking towards the stairs.

X0X0X0X0X0X

Another day has come. It was already morning and as usual, Sumire would drive Sakuno to her school since it wasn't that much far to the place she works.

The whole ride was silent, neither of them saying anything. It was weird in Sumire's part. She wasn't used to see her granddaughter like this. As far as she know, her granddaughter would most likely to be the one who starts up a conversation.

She glanced at the front mirror in front of her, seeing a glimpse of her expressionless face. She knew it has something to do last night and until right now, she was still clueless about yesterday's events.

As a concerned grandmother that she is, she couldn't help but feel miserable at her current condition. If one thing she doesn't like the most, it is to see her like this.

"Sakuno…" She piped out. One way or another, she will find out what made her feel this way.

The girl's eyes flickered at the mention of her name.

"Is something bothering you?" It was a stupid question. It was obvious that something was bothering her. But to avoid suspicion, she needed to pretend that she was unaware of the whole situation.

The girl hardly made in any sound at all. She was still too preoccupied of the things that had happened to her yesterday.

The older woman carried on with her plans as she spoke up again, hoping that the girl would at least open up to her. "You haven't spoken a word since this morning."

The maiden forced herself to smile. "I'm fine, grandma."

"Doesn't seem like it. Not with that upside down line that is now forming in your face."

Again, she was greeted by silence.

Few minutes later, the girl opened her mouth and said, "Grandma?"

Sumire looked up from the wheels. "Yes?"

The petite girl hung her head low, fingers crossed in her lap. "W-what would you do if the people you used to be with for the long time…suddenly affronted you because of the way you look?"

Seigaku's tennis coach eyes blinked at her enquiry.

She wasn't that dumb. The question itself was already a dead giveaway.

She scowled. Her eyes back onto the busy road. "Did something happen between you and Tomoka?"

Sakuno was caught off guard as she looked up to face her. She should have known that her grandmother could easily detect things when it comes to problems.

Hearing no response from the meek girl, she continued, "So I was right after all."

She looked away, facing the window beside her. "We only have a slight misunderstanding about stuff. It's nothing to be taken of seriously."

She was glad that her grandmother didn't know that two of her former regulars happened to be involved.

The old lady looked thoughtful for a minute.

"As you wish."

It didn't take too long when they had finally arrived at Seigaku High. Sakuno got off from the car and bid Sumire farewell before she drove off to her work.

X0X0X0X0X0X

Sakuno was walking along the empty corridors of her school wearing P.E. attire. She was heading towards the gym where all of her classmates and their teacher would be there for their next class.

Usually, she would be seen with her friend Tomoka all the time. However, at that faithful day, Tomoka was nowhere to be seen inside the school grounds. When she had gone to her first class this morning, she learned from their teacher that the girl had a high fever.

How did she get it? That she didn't know. She figured that the rain might have something to do with it since it's always been raining for the past three days.

She felt disheartened at the news. Who wouldn't be? Excluding the regulars and the freshmen trio in the boy's tennis club, Tomoka is the only closest female friend she had ever since. Other than her was An Tachibana but the girl goes to a different school.

However, recalling back yesterday's incident, the least person she wanted to see for this moment is the person she wanted to be with right now.

After minutes of walking, she had finally arrived at her third class. Just as she opened the double doors, she saw many of her classmates doing several warm-ups like stretching their legs or doing push-ups.

Thinking that the teacher was not yet around, she casually walked inside with a sigh of relief leaking out from her pink lips.

_Thank God, I wasn't la-_

"Ryuzaki!" The teacher bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the entire gymnasium. Everyone inside the area halted from his or her business, surprised by the sudden outburst.

All eyes were instantly directed to her and the said girl flushed in embarrassment.

"20 laps around the gym!" The instructor yelled once again, startling her for the second time around.

"Y-yes, sensei." She then proceeded to sprint her way to do her punishment, regardless of the hilarity that had ringed inside the place.

As Sakuno busied herself with her laps, a certain Ryoma Echizen was standing in the corner of the room with his arms folded, watching her every move. Just now, he was taking a light nap to rest his eyes when all of a sudden his classmates started laughing at her.

He shook his head disapprovingly. His classmates were being mean to her again. He noticed that every time the girl does something so minor, everyone laughs as if it was something big to begin with.

'_The last time I remembered, you also did something mean to her.'_

Ryoma grimaced at his conscience. _Don't remind me that._

Before his conscience could even reply, a black haired girl suddenly spoke up from the sidelines, nattering nonsense with her friend.

"Great, fat pig is on the loose again." She paused, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Why don't we have skinny pigs instead of fat pigs? Really, I'm getting sick of watching her flab jiggle every time. "

The other looked at her and whispered, "You know, sometimes I wonder where she gets all that fat?"

The former reeled her eyes expressively. "Duh! She gets it from all the food she's eating."

"Not that…never mind."

The former with wrinkled her nose. "Gosh…she really needs to stop eating oily foods ne?"

**Giggle. Giggle.** "Yeah if she doesn't want to be _pigverized_ into _swinereens_. Get it?_ Pigverized_ into _swinereens?_"

Subsequently, a restrained laughter from both girls was heard.

"That must be the lamest joke I've ever heard." Ryoma remarked as his faint footsteps entered their hearing shot.

Immediately, the girls stopped. On the floor, they could see a figure of a tall black shadow, looming over them.

Thinking that he was their teacher, the girls gulped nervously and slowly twirled around. Once they saw him, he abruptly put on his glaring gaze on them.

The girl with long black hair smiled at him, batting her eyelashes dramatically. Ryoma could only sneer at her gruesome attempts.

"Ah! Ryoma-sama! It's good to see you here." She greeted, tucking a strand behind her ear.

"What can we do for you, Ryoma-sama?" The other girl with red short hair asked, beaming.

No movements can be seen in him neither his blank expression on his face. Later, his lips twitched downwards and his hazel eyes shimmered in anger, scaring the two girls.

"I don't like what you're doing to my friend." He started off monotonously, his eyes glaring dangerously towards them.

"If you have nothing nice to say, it's best if you just shut your traps."

"R-Ryoma-kun?" came astounded Sakuno's voice, her eyes flickering endlessly as pink tinge crawling into her cheeks.

_Did I just hear it right? Was he…standing up for me?_

She didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything for she wasn't the type of a person who would pry into other people's business. She just happened to pass by them while running and overheard their little conversation.

Hearing the timid girl's gentle voice, he shifted his head to face her. There she was, standing not too far from them.

It was undeniable that the girl had heard him.

He wanted looked away to avoid her eyes but since he doesn't want to break his cool and pride, he didn't.

After a moment, he spoke, "Aren't you suppose to be doing your laps, Ryuzaki?" He asked, face unchanging.

She blinked in realization. "Oh no! I totally forgot about that! Please excuse me." She bowed and scurried away, leaving the three of them in such haste.

X0X0X0X0X0X

"Mou…what a day." She said after placing her white shoes on to the locker.

It's already dismissal time and classes had ended not too long ago. Today has been very exhausting day for her. Apparently, their teacher decided to become sadists and gave them tons of homework, seatwork, projects and group activities to work on.

What's more, she had been experiencing lots of troubles all in just one day.

One of them was during in their Biology class. They were given a laboratory exercises as always. Now, if only they were given some kind of activity that doesn't involve dissecting a living, breathing and bouncy frogs then she wouldn't have to panic.

After all, frogs had never been her favorite animals.

It's not that she despised the creature or anything. She was just afraid that it might do something harmful to her like jumping into her face for instance. To add it all her, she was paired with one of Ryoma's loco fan girls that she least wanted to be paired of, Reiko Ota.

There has been a rumor spreading around the school that Reiko has been dating Ryoma for the past few weeks. Of course it wasn't true. Ryoma said it himself once she asked him about it. In fact, Reiko has been plotting to take over Tomoka's place as the club president for a while now.

However, since Tomoka became influential, she stood no chance against her.

So when she learned that the club president is not present today, Reiko took this as an opportunity to boss everyone on the club.

Moreover, knowing that Sakuno, her lab partner, is her archrival's best friend, she purposely threw the icky frog right to her face. What comes next was surely expected as laughter took place, leaving the poor lass screaming and nearly gotten a heart attack. That is if she had any, of course.

To her, it was the most embarrassing thing that she had ever experienced in her entire life.

Snapping back from her reverie, she feverishly grabbed her school shoes before closing the locker door. She could not wait to go home and end this strenuous day.

While our dear Sakuno was busy putting her shoes on, three figures gradually approached her from behind.

Reluctantly, she turned around. What greeted her sight are none other Reiko and her copycat crew Ayumi and Madoka. The two same girls from P.E. class.

She greeted them with an utmost smile, her hands trembling nervously behind her back. "Ah Ota-san, Takahashi-san, Okamoto-san…what can I do for you?" She asked.

The leader of the group rolled her eyes cruelly, grunting at her voice.

"Will you stop being so nicey-nicey, fat witch? You know what we want from you."

Sakuno had her eyebrows scrunched up. "Uh…I think I do not understand what you're getting a-"

"Oh please, as if you really don't know." Ayumi, the girl with red short hair muttered harshly, placing both of her hands on her hips.

"We're talking about your relationship with _our_ Ryoma-sama." The other girl with long black hair continued on. "We don't want you near around him. Only Reiko-sama and the member's of his fan club can do that."

"Yes and no one else!"

She bit her lower lip nervously. "There must be a misunderstanding. Ryoma-kun and I are nothing but-"

"That's what bitches like you always said." said Reiko, flipping her silky-smooth blonde hair. "Don't even think I didn't saw your little act during P.E. class."

_Act? What act?_

"I r-really have no idea w-what you're talking about, Ota-san." She explained truthfully, water starting to form into her eyes.

Madoka grunted mockingly at the sight. "Oh great, she's dramatizing again."

Ayumi snorted, narrowing her eyes and said, "You didn't know? What about that time when Ryoma-sama stood for you instead of us huh? Wasn't that something?"

"I…"

"You know…" Reiko began, cutting off the poor girl's incoming explanation. "Ugly pigs like you should really need to keep their filthy noses away from Ryoma-sama and the regulars."

She paused and stared revoltingly at her from top to bottom.

"I mean look at you, you're ugly and obese." Sakuno couldn't help but to look downwards at her statement, still trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to come out soon.

_Don't cry, Sakuno. That would only look you weak._ She mentally told herself.

Sakuno could perceive a snort coming out from the blonde haired lass's lips. "Do you really think Ryoma-sama would even dare to date you?"

Reiko clasped her hands together, laughing. "Of course not! He wouldn't have the nerve to date your kind who does a shameful act in public. I mean, eww look at this…" Out of nowhere, a magazine magically appeared from her back. She started flipping it open to the page she desired to.

Chocolate orbs immediately bolted from the blue. It was the same magazine that Momoshiro brought yesterday.

The swimsuit magazine.

The braided girl looked at the gaping page. It was that embarrassing picture again. She glanced at the offender absent-mindedly. Now, she wouldn't be surprised if she likely saw her smirking derisively in satisfaction. It was apparent in her eyes that she enjoyed tormenting her, even if it means putting the poor maiden into shame.

The tormentor waved the object in her hand in such a manner that could be labeled as an offensive act.

"One advice, Ryuzaki, wear something that doesn't make you look like a piece of shit." She commented, snickering hysterically. Shortly, she was joined by her two accomplices who also started barking into fits of mocking laughter.

The fragile girl could no longer bury her emotions any longer. She broke into tears, helplessly crying in front of them.

However, Reiko was not yet satisfied so she continued, "The only reason why Ryoma-sama and the regulars would glance at you because they pity you. You are so pathetic that they decided to lift your lost spirit up."

"T-that's not true!" The chubby girl defended, tiny droplets of hot tears still continued to cascade on her face. "Ryoma-kun and the others wouldn't do that to me!"

"Oh really now? Are you sure about?" She questioned, walking behind her.

For once, Sakuno was speechless. "I…"

"Just because you used to be their coach's granddaughter that doesn't mean they like you, Ryuzaki. I mean, surely they wouldn't be disrespectful enough by not treating you nicely." She stopped in her rambling and cupped her chin to meet her bantering eyes.

"After all, they wouldn't want to be banned from playing tennis. Not when little Ryuzaki's grandmother has relatively strong connections to the members of Junior Tennis Association in Japan." She added.

"No…" The petite girl whispered, clenching both of her fists tightly. "That's not true…"

Reiko let go of her chin and graciously brought out her right hand, checking her newly painted nails. "Tsk, tsk, tsk…you know what? I pity you really and to think that you're friends with Osakada is quite a shocker too. That foolish loud-mouth excuse for a club president only befriends you because you just happen to be Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter."

"You're lying! Tomoka…Tomo-chan…she would…she would never…" She trailed off, loss at words.

She smirked once more. "She would never what? Do that to you? Heh, admit it Ryuzaki, you're just another lonely low-life bi-Ah!"

Unexpectedly, a yellow ball whizzed passed her ear, startling the four of them at its sudden appearance.

As soon as the ball landed on the floor, Reiko reached out her ear and yelled, "Who's the loser hitting that ball?!"

"Uh…Reiko-sama…" called Ayumi, the color of her face slowly draining out.

"What?!" The blonde barked angrily.

"It's uh…"

"This school is such a mystery." An all too familiar voice joined the party.

"I never knew Seigaku High accepts delusional girls."

All three of them quickly shifted their heads to see the newcomer, only to meet face to face the person they were arguing about. His red racket rested on his shoulder and his bored amber eyes glared at the three girls.

"R-Ryoma-sama!" The girl with black hair shrieked surprisingly in a high-pitched tone, her hands covering her agape mouth. The others only paled at his sudden appearance.

"Hoi, you with the blonde hair."

"M-Me Ryoma-sama?" Reiko inquired as she pointed her finger to herself.

"Yeah you, why don't you look yourself into the mirror first before you start insulting others?" The boy asked in a strict alarming voice. His hazel eyes glistened dangerously than before.

"That includes your goons too." He added dreadfully, his eyes settled on the other two. "You all may be pretty in the outside but you sure are utterly ugly in the inside."

The three were left open-mouthed, surprised at his rude commentary.

The young prodigy eyes squinted even more.

"Looking at you three is like eating puke. It's sickening."

If words could easily kill, these girls could have been dead by now. His harsh and cruel words stung like a bee. No…it's more painful than a bee.

It's like being stab right through your heart by knives a thousand times over.

"R-Ryoma-sama…" One of them, the red haired one, mumbled lowly. From the sound of her stammering voice, it was clear that the girl is almost in the verge of crying.

He inwardly snorted. Not that _he_ care.

"Get lost before I really puke in front of you." He demanded, still in a monotonous tone.

Almost immediately, the three scampered away like little chickens, scared that they might upset the aloof prince any further. Once the two of them (Ryoma ad Sakuno) are all alone, the young lad diverted his attention to the girl in front of him who is still sniffing.

"Ryuzaki…" He voiced out softly. He felt very bad by just looking at her crying like that. She looks so vulnerable and defenseless in front of him.

Although he never tells it to anyone, seeing her crying like that only made him weak.

The girl did not move in her spot. She was crying for all she cared that she didn't even mind that Ryoma was there, watching her from the sidelines.

She was hurt, assaulted and again…hurt. For her, it was painful. Although she knew they were only lying, what they said were half-true.

Even if she was used at this kind of life for 3 years in a row, it was still hard for her.

Living a life full of insults and mockery…it was heart breaking.

She's really sick of it.

X0X0X0X0X0X

The two of them were now walking alongside the street, side by side. Sundown is almost near and the incident had long passed.

Ryoma had told her that he would walk her home…that she needed company in case those girls show up again and since she was in no position to reject his offer, she was forced to agree.

So here they were…still walking and neither dared to break the overwhelming stillness.

Taking this as an opportunity, he secretly stole a glance from her.

The girl had her head bowed, her swollen eyes sullenly looking towards the solid ground. She wasn't even looking where she was walking and if she doesn't snap out of it soon, she might collide with something hard or worse.

When they reached their destination, the prince suddenly halted from his tracks, thus making the girl beside him stop as well. She was going to enter their house when-

"Ryuzaki…" The girl looked up at the call of her name, meeting his uneasy gaze.

"I…" He began, his throat starting to dry up. _What are you waiting for, Ryoma? Say it. You've been practicing this last night just for this, didn't you?_

The maiden continued to stare at him, patiently waiting for him to speak.

"I…I wanted to say I'm sorry." came his soft voice, his eyes avoiding an eye contact with her.

She blinked and asked, "For what?"

"For what I've done to you yesterday." He said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I did not intend to."

As if any cue, the wind blew at their direction, making some leaves from the trees rustle while the birds at the setting sky flew freely. Sakuno was again speechless and was now staring at her feet, not bothering to take her eyes off them any time soon.

That is until she opened her mouth.

"Is that so?" was her curt question.

Ryoma made an affirmative sound and again, silence was the only thing that entered into their ears. Sakuno was absorbed at her own thoughts, thinking of different things about her bitter life.

It was then when his voice brought her back to reality.

"I promise." She turned to look at him as he continued, "I promise I won't let them hurt you anymore."

Sakuno looked uncertain for the moment. After all the things that had happened to her, she wasn't sure whom to believe anymore. She doesn't know what the truth is.

Everything to her seems so confusing.

But when she heard him say those words, she thinks otherwise.

"I'm going."

He started to walk away, his hands inside his pocket when she voiced out his name.

"R-Ryoma-kun, wait!"

He stopped in mid-step.

Sakuno began fidgeting the hem of her skirt nervously, reddening.

"I…I b-believe in you." She managed to say it, despite the stuttering. "Also, y-you saved me twice today and I thank you for that." She has been meaning to tell him about this since this afternoon but she doesn't have the courage to do it.

Thankfully, she was finally able to spill it out to him.

She waited for him to say something, anything that was running inside his mind right now.

The freshman prodigy looked over his shoulder, pulling his cap to cover his amused eyes.

"So...I'll see you tomorrow then?"

The girl gave off a pretty smile, replacing the saddened expression she had a while ago.

"Definitely" Afterwards, he walked off, leaving the chubby girl on her own as she trudge herself light-hearted towards their front door.

She thought it was going to be fine…that everything would all be okay now.

However, this is just the beginning.

If she thinks that this is the end of her sad life then she's absolutely wrong.

Unlike the movies or soap operas, this isn't just any fairy tale or those sappy romance novels with happy memories and whatnot.

In every life story, there would always be difficult obstacles that would challenge us of how strong our faith in life.

And in Sakuno's story, this is just the beginning of where her life becomes more hectic.

* * *

_So how was it? I hope you all enjoyed your time reading._

_I really pity Sakuno-chan in here...damn delusional girls..._

_Don't forget to submit your comments okay? That would be much helpful..._

_Oh and by the way, you should definitely read the next upcoming chapters because that's when all the fun begins...Chao! _

_Happy Easter Sunday everyone! _

_Riza_


	3. Chapter 3

Third Chapter is up!

I'm really sorry for the slow update. Although school is already over, my schedule had been hectic for the past few days because of a personal reason. Sorry to keep you waiting!

* * *

**Chapter 3: **Anomalous

"Mou…" She breathed out palpably, slumping idly to the wooden bench near the tennis grounds. Morning classes had finished minutes ago and luckily, all those _peculiar episodes_ that she had experienced were long gone.

If there's anything that Sakuno Ryuzaki didn't understand, it is when their teacher comes inside their class and starts teaching the least favorite subject that she liked.

English

Don't get it wrong. The girl was really doing her best. However, no matter how hard she tries to grasp the foreign subject into her thick mind, she just can't get it right.

It's just isn't her thing.

Of course, learning English was just one of her main concerns about things that she didn't understand because as far as she knows, there are many things in life that are complicated and confusing to comprehend.

Like experiencing weird events for instance.

Earlier this morning, when she made her way towards her shoe locker, two girls come up to her. Normally, girls who approached her like this means there's trouble up ahead. But to her surprise, it wasn't. Especially when they bowed down and nervously shoved their letters to her which was well…unexpected.

She blinked, dumbfounded.

_A confession?_ Sakuno thought good-humouredly, laughing mentally inside her mind.

She flashed them a warm smile and immediately, they darted away from her in such haste. As soon as they were gone which was very strange from Sakuno's opinion, she opened the letters that were given to her and read it.

Again, she was surprised. Both of the letters contained a repentance message.

Those girls were actually apologizing for their abusive actions in the form of writing a letter?

Her once confused mind got even more confused.

Why all the sudden? Is this just a dream? A sick joke that she's part of?

With that kind of thought in mind, she placed the letters to her locker and ignored the bizarre encounter.

Yet to her shock, another strange happening had once again occurred and this time it was during their first morning class.

The moment Sakuno stepped her foot in their classroom, everyone immediately halted whatever they were doing. She disregarded the uncanny feeling and started to make her way inside, regardless of the unnerving stares she's receiving.

She really wouldn't mind if they would just stare at her like that. Judging from her previous experiences with her classmates, she thought that maybe they were doing this to 'humor' their selves again.

Besides, that's what she is in their eyes anyway and because of that, maybe they just have heard about the scandalizing portrait of her in the magazine.

Somehow, her beliefs went down to drain.

As she sauntered her way towards her empty desk, her classmates that she happened to pass by had surprisingly given her smiles and waves which was again…noticeable in her point of view. Others who didn't send off those kind gestures greeted her like "Good Morning, Ryuzaki-san" or "Nice Morning, isn't it Ryuzaki-san?"

What even scares her most was the fact that the 'Terrible Three' consisting of Reiko, Ayumi and Madoka are also doing the same thing.

"Maybe everyone woke up in the bad side today." She said to no one particular, swaying her head from left to right.

Today has just been really weird. Add the fact that Tomoka, her best friend, was still ill since yesterday.

_The fever must be getting into her._ She thoughtfully told herself.

Those girls…

Her classmates…

Tomoka's absence…

She sighed. _What's next?_

She reached out her forehead in frustration. "This day has just gotten weirder and weirder."

"Something on your mind you like to share?" came a recognizable male's voice.

The auburn haired maiden distractedly raised her head up, her hand still on her forehead. There he was again…Ryoma Echizen in his tennis uniform, standing all in his glory. He was drinking his favorite grape juice as usual and at that moment, she knew that they were probably given a 10-minute break from their practice.

"Ah! Ryoma-kun, you surprised me!" She muttered with a faint blush on her cheeks, placing a hand over her chest.

The boy arched an inquisitive eyebrow then flopped himself next to her.

She tilted her head, her eyes boring to his face. "W-what are you doing here? Is practice already over?"

The boy shrugged nonchalantly, throwing the can to the nearby trash can. "Not quite"

She flashed him a smile. "I see"

Afterwards, an awkward silence was developed between them. The pigtailed girl closed her eyes and gave a small smile, feeling the soft cold breeze passing towards them. Ryoma on the other hand watched her silently in his seat, a smirk played on his thin lips.

Minutes passed and when he was finally fed up at the stillness, he broke the ice.

"You didn't answer my previous question."

The girl unwittingly blinked her eyes. "Question? What question?"

The aloof prince started mumbling some words about girls not paying attention and whatnot. Sakuno who had witnessed his antics had suddenly chuckled in amusement, earning a raised eyebrow from the prince himself.

"What?" He asked.

The girl shook her head, softening her laughter. "It's nothing"

He looked away with a scoff. "Che. I'll never understand girls."

"Of course you don't. We girls are very complicated."

He then looked back at her again. "So?"

She arched her eyebrow; the smile never left her features. "So what?

"My previous question?" He asked again, almost in the limit of being annoyed. _She's just lucky that she's my-_

"It's nothing big." She said matter-of-factly, cutting him from his thoughts.

"Then what is it?" He questioned with utmost curiosity.

Ryoma was never been the type of person who pries in another people's life. Also, he was never the talkative one. He was only doing this because she's his friend. Because he was just concerned and being a concerned friend that he is, he needs to know everything what was happening to his friend.

The maiden's expression had softened as her eyes darted towards the two-bento boxes that were sitting on her lap, her dainty fingers toying with her braids.

"Well…" She trailed off, rather hesitant for the moment and continued, "Weird things have been happening to me this day."

"Like what?"

She gave him a quick glance and said, "In this morning, two girls came up to me and gave me a repentance letter. Second, our classmates have been acting quite strange towards me. Third, Tomo-chan is still not around."

She paused and then stared at him questioningly. "What do you think is going on, Ryoma-kun?"

The said boy gave her a look. "I'm not a psychic. Just so you know."

She stamped her foot childishly, wailing. "Mou! I thought you know the answer?"

He shrugged as he closed his feline eyes, crossing his arms behind his back. "I do."

"So?"

He inwardly smirked. _This is gonna be fun. _"So what?"

"Mou, Ryoma-kun!" She exclaimed, pounding her fist to his side.

To her amazement, her prince, the indifferent and stoic looking type of a guy, let out a small laugh. Although it was only a small laugh, it doesn't matter because he laughed.

The girl was flabbergasted. Never in her entire life had she seen her crush laughing like this before. It was actually her first time to see him enjoying himself.

Enjoying himself _with_ her.

"Alright, alright" He dropped his arms back to his side and faced her, the serious look was back on his face.

"They were being sorry for being mean to you. It's that simple."

She crossed her hands in front of her chest skeptically. "What makes you say that?"

Instead of replying to her question, he gave her a knowing smirk and answered, "Because I'm saying the truth."

Right at that moment, Sakuno knew that the boy was keeping something from her.

X0X0X0X0X0X

After the conversation she had with Ryoma, all of the students hastily gone back to their own classrooms as soon as lunch break is over.

It was now their English period. Their English teacher, Hara-sensei was currently discussing about how to conduct a Research paper that has never been paid any heed by other students including the braided maiden herself.

With her hand supporting her chin, she was once again in her own world as her eyes stared blankly outside the windows wherein birds are chirping in the trees and the clouds forming white fluffy cottons up above the blue sky.

She knew something was up with her classmates. Add the part when Ryoma who was acting weird a while ago is also a living proof to that.

The teacher turned to face her students. "So basically, all of you are…Ryuzaki-san?" She inquired, noticing the lass's lack of attention.

Unfortunately, the girl was so engrossed at her own thoughts that she didn't even hear the teacher's call.

Again, she called, "Ryuzaki-san?"

No response

"Ryuzaki-san!"

"Y-yes?!" She asked in surprised tone, almost stumbling in her own seat as she received muffled snickering from her classmates inside the room. It was even more shocking when a certain someone from behind started faking a cough, as if signaling everyone to keep quiet.

In a split second, all the noise that had filled the room instantly vanished like thin air.

The teacher gave out a scowl, not looking very happy.

"This is your second time that you have been spacing out in my class. Mind if you share what you had in mind, hmm Ryuzaki-san?" She asked, slowly walking towards her desk.

"I…I was just…ano…sorry sensei!" She blurted out as she bowed her head, her eyes fixed in her trembling knees.

The teacher let out an exasperated sigh and asked, "Were you paying attention of what I said earlier?"

"N-no." She replied lowly, not taking her eyes off on her knees yet.

After a pregnant of silence, she slowly brought her head up, only to see their teacher walking back to her desk. Sakuno hauled a silent sigh of relief, thankful that the teacher didn't give her any punishment at all.

Hara-sensei cleared her dry throat, catching everyone's attention.

"As I was saying, you are all going to be given an English project that will be due on the last day on this month. It is all about conducting your own research paper that you-" She randomly pointed the boy in front of her. "Desired. Any topic. Any topic at all as long as the topic that you have chosen is not yet proven. You are all required to do this for this project cost you 50 percent of your grade."

The burgundy-haired teacher paused and resumed, "Now let's begin with the pairing."

"Pairing?" Sakuno questioned her aloud.

"Yes Ryuzaki-san, pairing. I forgot to mention that this project is by pair, meaning that there will be teamwork between the two. Now, if any of you have some issues with your chosen partner, I believe that you will all have to handle that otherwise it's a failing mark for the two of you."

Moaning sounds from the students were soon heard throughout the entire classroom. The said teacher, who ignored the strident protest from them, had eagerly flipped her notebook open.

"Now, on with the partners."

"Ugh"

"Oh man"

Subsequently, the rambling of the names begin…

X0X0X0X0X0X

After Hara-sensei dismissed her class, the freshmen trio gathered themselves near in Ryoma's desk, their faces unreadable in frustration. In contrast, Ryoma still had that cool composure on him. As if there was nothing wrong on the scenery.

"Oh man, you've gotta be kidding me!" complained Horio, dramatically banging his head in Ryoma's desk. "Doesn't Hara-sensei know that this project could take months to accomplish? This is mental torture!"

"Horio-kun…"

"And to pair me up with that Mad Osakada had made it twice the torture!"

Katsuo sent him a reassuring smile. "Well, at least she didn't require us to make source notes just like the third years."

"Yeah, we're lucky that way." Kachiro muttered, nodding his head in agreement.

The swanky freshmen gaped at them. "Are you both serious? We have like an intra-school tournament coming up this week. We don't have time doing this project! If we want to be one of the regulars, we had to practice extra hard."

"Horio-kun, you're overreacting." came Kachiro's commentary, placing his hand on the lad's shoulder.

"Look at Ryoma-kun." He gave the prince a side-glance and resumed, "See? He doesn't seem to be bothered at all!"

Horio followed his line of vision and then looked back at him.

"That's because English to him is easy! Echizen can always pass this subject whether he submits a research paper or not." The boy argued, glancing back at the cold prince who was now listening on his MP3 player.

"Now, now. You know Ryoma-kun wouldn't do that. He has a partner to worry about, right Ryoma-kun?" asked Kachiro as he glanced at their green-haired friend.

"Hn"

The boy with an egghead hairdo brought his hand on his chin, thinking deeply. "Now that you mention about it. Who exactly is your partner, Ryoma-kun? I didn't quite catch the person's name."

Horio snorted jadedly, his head resting on the desk. "Well, it could probably be that girl with hot rocking body like Ikeda-san or that sassy blonde girl who keeps clinging herself on Echizen."

Kachiro blinked. "You mean, Ota-san?"

"Yeah, that one."

The former shook his head, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Oh I wish not, that girl is bad news."

"Tell me about it." Katsuo chimed in. "Last time I remembered, she was spreading false rumors around the school that she and Ryoma-kun were dating."

"I, with my four years of tennis experience, think that Reiko girl has too much imagination. She's so full of herself."

Katsuo and Kachiro looked away with a sweatdrop. _Yeah, just like you. _

"Ano…"

All of them, excluding Ryoma, redirected their gazes to the source of the voice. The person was none other than Sakuno Ryuzaki who was vehemently staring on her shoes, reddening.

Kachiro offered her a kind smile. "Ryuzaki-san, what can we do for you?"

"Ah…eh…actually, I was h-here to t-talk to…" Her vision moved towards Ryoma. "To Ryoma-kun."

The two friendly-looking freshmen stared at each other. "To Ryoma-kun?"

She bobbed her head shyly. "Yes. It's about our…project."

"She's my partner." The cat eyed boy piped in, taking the earphones off from his ears.

"Oh"

The courteous boy of the group beamed at them. "Well then, we should leave you guys alone. Bye." In a jiff, he grabbed both of his friends' hands and dragged them out of the room.

When the three left, Seigaku's pillar of support gradually rose from his seat.

"Ryoma-kun?"

He grabbed his things and slung it to his shoulder. "Pack your things. We're going."

The girl had a perplexed look on her delicate face, watching as he started walking away.

"Going? Going where?" She asked.

He stopped in mid-step and looked back over his left shoulder. "Home"

"B-but you have afternoon practices and-"

"I'll skip it." He abruptly said, ending the girl's unfinished sentence.

The girl bowed her head again as she felt another blood rushing to her cheeks. "Are you really sure that you want to walk me home? I…I mean, I can always go home by myself."

The boy merely raised his eyebrow at this.

She then brought her head up and faced him. "You see, I-I need to go to Tomo-chan's place. I was getting worried about her condition and I really don't want to bother you-"

"I'll accompany you there." He responded as he got himself going again but halted as he heard no footsteps of the girl.

"Are we going or not?" He asked impatiently.

Her eyes flickered at his sudden question.

"Y-yes. Wait up."

X0X0X0X0X0X

At the sidewalk they walked and this time side by side, feeling another gust of wind slowly blowing in their direction. Tomoka's house is still minutes away and the two had already left the campus grounds at such an early hour.

Feeling uncomfortable at the endless stillness, Sakuno started to break the eerie silence between them, trying to strive up an interesting conversation with him.

"Ano…Ryoma-kun?" She began.

He gave her a side glance. "Hn?"

"I wasn't able to ask you what topic we should pick for our research paper."

The boy stifled out a curt sound and said, "Tennis"

The auburn-haired maiden sweatdropped. "Ryoma-kun, tennis is a sport not an unverified fact."

"Well then, let's have cats as our topic."

**Sigh **"I'm being serious in here."

The said boy casually shrugged his shoulders. "You choose. I don't really care."

"Ryoma-kun!"

Suddenly, he stopped.

"Where exactly is Osakada's house?" He asked, changing the course of their endless conversation which had successfully worked.

She blinked at his enquiry then pointed her finger at a certain direction. "Ah…ano…it's around that corner, the one on the left."

"Oh" After that, their walk ensued.

"Ryoma-kun, I…um…I was thinking…" She trailed off, quite hesitant.

His eyebrows lifted, waiting for her to continue.

"I was thinking of dropping by at the flower shop before we head to her house."

"We'll drop by at Otomo's flower shop." He plainly stated.

Her pallid face brightened. "Really? That's great! Thank you, Ryoma-kun!"

X0X0X0X0X0X

**At the Osakada's household….**

Inside the Osakada's residence was not a beautiful day for all of them. Although the sun shines brightly above the blue sky from the outside, it was still no use.

Why?

Because they have a sick member among them.

Since someone is unwell, the house was filled with gloomy atmosphere. Nevertheless, that didn't stop them for doing their normal agendas that they do everyday.

So basically, the sick person was left all alone inside her lone bedroom. Her parents and brothers had already gone off earlier this morning, leaving her with a close family friend, Takako Uesugi.

The pigtailed girl was there, hopelessly lying in her comfy bed. She continued to cough roughly, her throbbing parched throat getting worse every minute.

The entrance of her room opened and immediately a figure walked in. As the carroty-haired woman strolled her way towards the girl's bed, she placed the tray full of medicines, water and other necessary stuff on the side table.

Tomoka glanced up to her, smiling faintly. "Thank you very much for attending me, Uesugi-san."

The said woman beamed reassuringly and sat next to her. "It's the least I can do after your father and mother helped me in my problems. I owe them a lot."

She then took the bottle of syrup and poured its contents into the teaspoon.

"Here" She said, holding a tablespoon full of syrup. Tomoka reluctantly opened her mouth as the lady fed her the syrup.

The nauseous-looking girl cringed at its bitter taste.

"Ugh…I hate this flavor." She mumbled in disgust as she groggily sank back to her bed after drinking the glass of water. "And I hate this stupid disease." She added.

Takako flashed a warm smile. "Oh sweetie, don't worry. You'll get better soon."

"I hope I do. Because I really need to make up with her."

Holding the glass of water in her hand, Takako's eyebrows rose as she asked, "You mean your friend?"

Tomoka bobbed her head, the smile on her face slowly fading away.

"Yeah. I did something that caused her pain inside. I hurt her feelings."

"But I'm sure you didn't mean it." The woman countered, now placing the glass of water back to the tray. "I know you wouldn't do such a thing."

She heaved out a sigh. "I hope she forgives me. I really don't want to lose her. She's been my best friend for too long now."

The woman smiled down at her. "Oh I'm sure she will."

**Ding Dong!**

Takako clasped her hands in delight. "Ah…someone's at the door. I'll be right back." And with that, she left the girl on her room.

X0X0X0X0X0X

The two of them had already been standing at their classmate's front door for 8 minutes, waiting for someone inside the household to at least unlock the entry towards the house.

Ryoma started to tap his foot, looking very impatient while Sakuno tried one more time pressing the doorbell.

**Ding Dong!**

Hearing no response whatsoever, the boy's frown intensified. "No one's answering the door."

"Maybe no one's at home?" The maiden asked, uncertain at her own statement as she adjusted the bouquet of colorful flowers on her arms.

The prince let out an indignant huff. "Let's go. This is a total waste of-"

Brusquely, the door opened and a tall woman appeared as she beamed them a welcoming smile.

The timid girl instantly greeted her with a nervous smile.

"Ah…h-hello, ma'am."

"Hello" The woman responded.

"Um…is Tomoka here? I…I-I mean, we are here to visit her. You see, it's been almost two days that she's been absent and we come to check on her if she's okay."

Takako's gleeful smile widened. "Ah! You must be Tomoka's friends. I'm Takako Uesugi, a family friend of the Osakadas. Please, please do come in. She would certainly be happy to see you two." She then extended her hand as she guided them inside.

Ryoma and Sakuno who were guided by Takako were brought to Tomoka's bedroom. Once they had arrived at the said place, Sakuno tightened her grip on the flowers as the woman turned the doorknob of the door.

The woman popped her head on the girl's room. "Tomoka, your friends are here to see you."

The loud girl's eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Friends?"

Right away, a figure walked in, making her eyes widened in revelation.

"Sakuno!" She cried as she jumped out of her bed and caught her in a suffocating embrace as numerous tears started emerging from her eyes.

"Sakuno-chan, I'm so glad to see you! I'm deeply and sincerely very sorry! I really didn't mean to say those words to you and…and I was being so insensitive and…and-"

"Tomo-chan…" The girl intervened audibly, returning her hug and continued, "It's alright. I-"

"If only you know how miserable I felt when you ran away from me-"

The meek maiden giggled. "Tomo-chan, really, it's fine. I forgive you."

The weeping girl sniffed. Her eyes all watery as she looked at her. "B-but…but…"

"Tomo-chan, it's okay." She wiggled at the girl's tight hold. "But please, let me go because you're squishing me and the flowers."

Tomoka immediately released her, smiling sheepishly. "He he, sorry"

The tall woman walked over to her and said, "I'll take those flowers please."

Obediently, Sakuno handed it over to her and she proceeded placing each flowers in a flower vase. While Takako was busy with it, Tomoka took a hold of her hands and started talking.

"So tell me Sakuno, how did everything go in school while I was away?"

"Uh…"

"How's everyone while I was gone?

"Eh?"

"How's the club?"

The auburn-haired maiden found her body stiffened at the question.

"Well, I-"

"Now, now, I know you two wanted to keep this discussion going but please do remember that you're sick, Tomoka. I'll be in trouble if you strain yourself again." The older woman muttered, stepping into their conversation as she dragged the sick girl towards her bed.

When the said girl was being dragged, her eyes accidentally landed towards the other visitor who was silently standing in the doorway, his eyes showing with pure boredom as he let out a small yawn.

With this, the girl's smile widened and yanked her arm from the woman.

"Ryoma-sama!" She exclaimed, joyfully launching herself towards the boy.

Ryoma, who was known to have fast reflexes, had stepped away from her path, letting the girl stumble on her own feet and fell.

"Ouch!"

Sakuno immediately kneeled down beside her, a worried look pasted on her face. "Tomo-chan, are you alright?"

The loud girl sniggered in embarrassment. "I'm okay. I'm okay." She then stood up and dusted up the dirt on her clothing.

The chubby maiden furiously advances to the prince. "Mou…you don't have to be so cruel. Tomo-chan is sick, you know."

The young lad robotically shrugged his shoulder off, muttering a "Sorry" as his eyes darted onto space.

The braided girl could only sigh in exasperation and turned to her friend who was once again being dragged by the woman.

Once the girl was neatly tucked in her bed, a piercing beeping was heard inside the room. Instantaneously, Takako reached out the beeping object on her pocket and answered it.

"Hello, Takako Uesugi here." A long pause. "Aha…aha…eh? That's today?! What?! Right now?! B-but today's my day off." **Sigh** "I see, I understand…Aha…yes…okay…I guess I have no other choices but to comply right? Alright…Okay bye." After that long talk, she flipped her phone shut, an unhappy look spreading on her pretty face.

Noticing the expression on her face, Tomoka asked, "Uesugi-san, something wrong?"

The woman faced her with a wry smile. "Well, something's up in our agency and I'm required to be there a.s.a.p."

"Then go."

She shook her head. "I can't just leave you here. Remember, I promised to your mom and dad that I'll watch over you."

"Then we'll watch over her." Sakuno chimed in as she launched herself forward. "You can count on us."

"But…" She trailed off as she dug her hand inside her pocket. "I'm supposed to buy a new medicine. It might take me long for me to-"

"I'll do it then, Uesugi-san." The timid lass volunteered, smiling brightly at her. "Ryoma-kun will stay here and I'll buy the medicine for you."

Ryoma grimaced at the thought of him being with loudmouth girl.

Takako beamed happily at her selfless offer, seizing both of her dainty hands with her own. "Really? You'll do that for me? I'm so happy!"

She then placed a white paper on Sakuno's palm, speedily marching towards the doorway as she uttered an "I'll be back" before she can exit the room.

"What a weird lady." Ryoma mumbled noiselessly.

"I'll be back too." Sakuno stated, also walking out of the room.

After the girl left, Tomoka diverted her gaze towards the prince.

"Ryoma-sama" The girl called out softly. Her eyes had surprisingly held some seriousness in it.

Ryoma shifted his eyes to look at her as she continued, "What happened to Sakuno while I was away?"

Ryoma's eyes unconsciously flickered at her sudden interrogation.

Is she related to Sakuno in some way?

Seriously, they know each other _too_ well.

X0X0X0X0X0X

"Thank you." She said with a smile as the counter lady handed her the medicines that she needed inside the paper bag. Afterwards, she left the pharmacy and resumed walking back to her friend's house.

It was a long stroll back to Tomoka's place. It usually takes 15 to 20 minutes from there. However, since Sakuno was so used in walking, walking this long is no longer a big deal for her anymore.

Besides, they said that the longer you walk, the more fats you burn.

Seeing that she had no more trouble with it, she was now humming a tune to herself when unexpectedly something caught her eyes.

Straight away, she secretly hid herself behind the nearby alley.

From a place not to far from her position, there was a bespectacled man standing outside the building. He had gray hair and visible wrinkles all over his aging face.

At first glance, Sakuno could tell that the man is indeed a business man because of the type of clothing he's wearing.

Standing in front of the man was a girl with shoulder length hair. In fact, she seems to be much younger than her companion because of the youthful features she possesses.

By the look of it, the girl seems to be around her age or a year older. Also, she was wearing a very familiar high school uniform.

Sakuno strained her eyes even more, trying to get a closer look on her face. Much to her dismay, she wasn't able to for the girl's long bangs were blocking her own field of vision.

The longer she stared at her, the more she reminded her of someone.

Her eyebrows crumpled. _Is it just me or does the girl looked very familiar?_

Now, the maiden cared less about this. She wasn't the type of a person who meddles in other people's personal business.

Nonetheless, the situation she is now facing was rather too awkward for her to ignore.

_A man and a young girl meeting at a forsaken place like this?_

_What exactly are they doing here?_

The timid maiden wrenched her head up at the building's name and read it.

Almost immediately, her big chocolate eyes widened like plates as two hands made its way to cover her gaping mouth.

_This place is a…oh my…oh my god!_

After a series of Sakuno's continuous staring, the man finally spoke up, breaking the eerie silence that had long consumed him and the girl before him.

"Here, take this." He said, anxiously shoving an incredibly large amount of money to the girl's free hand as he kept glancing from left to right. Sakuno was glad that she was able to put herself out of sight before any of them notices her unwanted presence.

"I'll give you some more at our second meeting. Don't worry." He added.

The girl flashed him a seductive smile. "Now, now, what are you nervous for? No one's around but the two of us."

_That voice…I just know I've heard it somewhere._ She thought, her hand still concealing her breathless mouth.

"I was just making sure that none of my associates sees me. Otherwise, they might tell my wife about my affairs with other women."

The girl leaned her body more closely as her breast dug into his chest.

"Well, if it is so then that'll be bad ne?"

The man frowned, lightly pushing the girl away. "No physical contact when we're in public. Aren't you even worried that someone might see you?"

The mysterious maiden sneered. "As far as I remembered, none of my brother's friends uses this road."

"Hn" He paused as he once again took another bundle of cash from his pouch and placed it into the girl's palm. "Look, if you want us both out of trouble you keep quiet about our relationship, okay?"

The girl smirked in victory as she began counting the money she had earned.

"Don't worry. My lips are sealed, Ashikaga-san."

The man smiled. "Good girl."

Later, the bespectacled man left the area towards north, leaving the girl all alone as she started to walk away from the opposite direction.

Seeing that the girl is coming in her way, Sakuno promptly hid her creeping head and pasted her back to the wall in order to keep herself from the girl's view.

Sakuno was getting nervous every minute. She fretfully sat on the clammy ground while hugging her knees, her trembling fingers clutched firmly in her skirt as the girl's footsteps were getting louder and louder. She prayed from the gods in the heavens above, hoping that the girl won't be able to discover her hideout.

In spite of how hard she prayed, the gods seem to have turned their backs on her when a rat suddenly appeared in her lap from who knows where.

In addition, because she's scared, she freaked out and recklessly screamed at the top of her lungs.

The footsteps stopped.

"Who was that?" came the girl's question and in a flash, the footsteps immediately carried on faster than before.

The chubby girl was now in the edge of fainting in apprehension, her eyes tightly shut.

_Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Please don't let her see me. Please don't let her see me. Please don't let her see-_

"Sakuno-chan?" The girl inquired. She instantly knew that the girl was now standing in front of her.

The lass opened her eyes._ Wait…did she just call me in my name?_

Curious enough, the maiden cocked her head up to take a glimpse of the girl's face and her eyes shot open in disbelief, a long gasp escaped from her pink lips.

"Oh...my…god."

* * *

Wah! Cliffhanger...hehehe...X)

Care to guess who this secret character is? Don't worry, she's a canon character.

If you got the correct answer, I'll give you cookies! X)

I know some of you will ask: What exactly is the name of the building did Sakuno saw?

Answer: Well, it's up to you to name it 'cause what really matters is what kind of building it is or the type of business they have in that place.

Again, can you guess what it is? Hehe, that means two pieces of cookies now huh?

Once again, comments, suggestions or any other clarifications are widely accepted.

Thank you once again for reading. Tune up for the next chapter for the secret character's identity and her reasons!

Riza

**P.S.** I know this is a bit too much but before you exit, can you please do me a favor by going into my profile? I have a poll in there about the next POT fic I'm going to make. Really, I need your votes...badly. Thank you very much! X)


	4. Chapter 4

Yehey! I'm back again! I'm so sorry for the long update. The internet in our house stopped working and I have to use the computers in our cafe for me to update...wah!

Okay enough of that, let's start to the real story at hand.

* * *

**Chapter 4: **Secret and Lies

**Back at the Osakada's residence…**

Ryoma's expression changed wholly as he redirected his head to the left, facing the lone wall.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Osakada."

"Ryoma" Her arid voice was shockingly stern as she spoke. "I've known Sakuno longer than any of you and the regulars. I know something was up."

Ryoma snorted and rolled his eyes, his back leaning against the doorframe. Heh, what do you know? She can actually say his name without pronouncing that annoying honorific over and over again.

"Why don't you ask your twin about that?" He argued, avoiding the very topic at any cost.

Seriously, why did that silly girl left him alone with her? Despite her condition, Tomoka still had the guts to glower at him and Ryoma had to flinch inwardly at the deadly glares she was giving him.

Forget the part that she's sick; she's still that noisy fan girl who won't leave him alone without getting him to say a word or so.

Good thing he is a master of hiding his emotions though.

Otherwise, well…let's not talk about it anymore, shall we?

After the long fierce look she had given to him, she finally stopped and heaved out a defeated sigh, her shoulders laid back at ease. Even if Ryoma was her tennis idol, sometimes the boy can be too stubborn for his own good.

No matter how intense her glaring daggers of doom were still they were useless against the prince of tennis himself, who is known to be the second unemotional person in their school.

She glanced up at him, her eyes spangling the sweetness of defeat.

"I give up. If you won't tell me then I'll ask you this one instead."

A teasing smirk made its way to her pale lips as she continued, "I know that you weren't the type of a person who would just come here in my house knowing that I'm sick."

Ryoma came to look at her, poker-faced as usual.

"Let alone skip tennis practices and come here together with _my_ Sakuno."

Straight to the point, he sighed and asked monotonously, "What exactly are you getting at?"

The devious fan girl smirked in pure mischief.

"Oh you know what I'm getting at, Ryo-ma-sama." The way she pronounced his name had made the prince evidently shivered. Because of this, her smirk broadened at the very sight.

"Finally showing some interest on my sweet little girl friend, eh?"

A piqued snort was his abrupt reaction to her question, his gaze looking the other way. "Don't start with me, Osakada. If you don't want to say goodbye to your precious fan club."

Tomoka pouted and placed both of her hands to her hips, secretly amused. "Geez Ryoma-sama, you don't have to be so grumpy. I'm only asking you know."

He rolled his feline eyes at her inexcusable reason.

"Yet on the other hand-" She tapped her finger into her chin thoughtfully. "-maybe the reason why you're being so grumpy is because I have accidentally hit the right spot. What do you say?"

"I say you're an idiot for thinking such a ridiculous thing." He responded, deliberately graveling his teeth into dirty ashes if possible.

She brought both of her hands up as a sign of surrender, smiling sheepishly at him. "Alright, alright. If you really won't admit it then fine. I might as well keep quiet and-" **Yawn** "-go to sleep." Afterwards, she woozily brought the warm sheets over her head and went to deep dreamless slumber.

"That's good." Hell yeah, seeing Tomoka with nothing but silence? That's probably the greatest news for him.

It's like listening to a symphony wherein musicians are playing beautiful melodies into his ears and whatnot.

That is of course until loud and cracking sounds of snoring comes out.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

Sakuno better arrive soon or else he'll lose all his remaining sanity for staying too long with her inseparable blustering and now snoring twin sister.

X0X0X0X0X0X

"Oh...my…god."

Sakuno couldn't believe what she is seeing right now.

_Fair complexion and dark brown eyes, Shoulder-length brown hair with those signature hair accessories._

She was right after all. She really knows who this girl is.

"Sakuno-chan, what are you doing here?" The girl asked with her eyes unblinking, the shock on her face lingers on.

"A-An-chan…?" Sakuno spoke unsurely; the breath that she had long sucked in had finally seeped out from her lips.

Wow. Talk about being in an ironic situation.

X0X0X0X0X0X

Sakuno and An brought themselves to the nearby park, watching various kindergarten students playing in the playground. It had been almost 10 minutes since the two of them had come across each other and decided to take a quick stroll around the area, only ending their selves up at the said place.

Along the way, both girls hadn't spoken any word at all. As they sat on their seats, still none of them dared to say a single word for they were clueless on how to start a proper conversation. There were too many questions that were flooding inside their minds that they can't open up to each other just yet.

Of course, the two lass have been close albeit the different schools they go to. Usually, when they run into each other, they would chat nonstop about life, school, sports of interest (mainly tennis) and of course about their own love life.

Then again, this isn't one of those ordinary days were they would typically come across each other. Both girls have fallen into an awkward position wherein one of them had witnessed the whole thing, leaving the first girl's furtive shameful affairs exposed.

In her seat, Sakuno, who was agitatedly fiddling with her fingers, was starting to have this edgy sensation inside her.

What will she say? What is she going to do? When will this stillness end?

Too many questions that she wanted to be answered and too many problems that she wanted to be solved. Yet to her utter disappointment, she couldn't bring herself to do or say anything for that matter. What would you expect? Never in her entire life had she felt this way nor experienced this kind of situation before. This is way too much for her to handle and even a girl like her couldn't do anything about it.

Ignoring the whole thing and pretend that nothing happened is deliciously tempting though, however, the matter at hand could not be overlooked.

Even if you try finding loopholes in different angles to escape this situation.

The braided girl secretly glanced at her seatmate. She can tell that the girl too is experiencing the same thing.

Just as what Sakuno had guessed, An's mind was flying off somewhere. Her face had that focused look on it. She was just as troubled as her and just like her, she too was feeling edgy inside. She was certain that her auburn-haired friend had seen everything. What she was doing and her disgraceful relationship towards that man she was with a while ago.

Her eyes then fell into her shaky hands.

How will she explain it to her? Will she understand her? Is she the right person that she can fully trust?

If so, will Sakuno keep this secret between the two of them?

As much as she hated to admit it, she was damn scared to death. What if Sakuno spill the beans about the things that she's been doing lately or worse? She would be in deep trouble if that would be the case. Moreover, she won't be able to face anyone again like she used to before.

She will be facing total humiliation from her family, her friends, her classmates…

Or even _him_.

The short-haired girl bit her lip fretfully.

Why haven't she thought about this before? She should have known it better that one day this day will come. Being so immersed and hungry with nothing but money and pleasurable sex, she was given no chance to mull over what she had done.

Then again, the past is the past and what had happened can no longer be altered.

Given that this is the kind of life she has chosen to take then this will be the kind of life she'll have to face despite its terrible consequences.

Besides, what she was doing was for the sake of her own family. For her brother. Such unbearable sacrifices are needed to do so.

There's no turning back now.

Even if it means giving up your dignity as a person.

"Ano…" Sakuno began, her slim fingers nervously toying with her reddish-brown braid. "I really didn't mean to eavesdrop in your conversation."

Greeted with nothing but silence, she resumed, "I was just passing by and just happened to overhear some things. Please do not think that I'm doing this on pur-"

"Enough" Startled at her voice, Sakuno lifted her gaze to look at her.

"I didn't say anything to you that you're worth to be accused of." The older teen then looked at the auburn-haired lass in the eye. "Please don't get me wrong."

Sakuno shook her head, her braids swinging behind her. "I'm not. I just want to apologize for my actions."

An looked away in comprehension. "Hmm...I see then."

As the wind's breeze caresses their bodies, the children around the area started chasing each other in a game of tag. Sakuno smiled at their behavior when An suddenly broke the silence between them.

"Aren't you even wondering what I was doing in that place?"

Sakuno blinked at the question her friend was asking. Of course she was curious about it. Who wouldn't be? Despite her growing curiosity, she didn't dare to ask her that question because she believes that if she does, things might get ugly for the two of them.

Now, she doesn't want that to happen right?

The meek maiden only lowered her head, quite hesitant to respond on her friend's bold question before she could mutter her reply. "I…I guess I am."

She then brought her gaze back to her. "But if An-chan doesn't want to talk about it then I won't talk about it be-because-"

The former shook her head reassuringly, cutting her from her explanation. "No, it's alright. I'd rather like to talk about it. If you won't hear the side of my story, I won't be able to explain myself to you." She reasoned off, her eyes twinkling gravely.

She had to do this. She has no choice. If she wanted to have an understanding between them, she had to tell her everything. She had to tell the reason why she was doing this.

She has the right to know because Sakuno is her friend.

Her only closest female friend.

Thankfully, the ginger-haired girl had understood her part as she nodded her head. "Ok then, I'll listen. I have all day."

Tomoka and Ryoma can wait later. Right now, An needed her the most.

She tolerantly waited for her female companion to open up, not minding the background noise that surrounded them.

"Alright" An took a deep breath as a start, her eyes glued on her lap. "It all happened when my father died two months ago due to a tremendous cancer in the heart."

The braided girl was shocked at the heartrending news.

"I'm sorry." She muttered inaudibly, eyes locking on her intertwined hands. "I didn't know that-"

An waved her off with a wry smile. "It's okay. There's nothing you have to be sorry about."

Then, her gaze landed on the siblings not to far from them, playing happily with the sand at the sandbox.

Regardless of how painful or how personal her story was, she still carried on with it.

"Because of that, our family is at loss. My brother and I only depended ourselves to him because he's the head of our family and our only financial supporter…" She immediately paused, inhaling the fresh air to refrain herself from crying her heart out in front of the public.

"And about our mother…well, she died when I was born so my brother and I were the only ones left since father's gone. When none of our relatives wanted to take care of us because of personal grudges against our parents, brother took over father's place and got himself a job to support the both of us."

The chubby girl remained in her seat in silence, nodding her head from time to time that she had understood her perfectly. She could only lend her ear to her for now, showing her condolence as she held her hand with her soft ones.

The second year student suddenly clenched her skirt, her knuckles turning white from her tight hold.

"However, when everything was going smoothly, something bad happened. It was late at night back then and brother was on his way home. He was really tired at that time because of school and work. While crossing the street, a big truck suddenly appeared out of nowhere and ran over him."

A small gasp leaked out from the petite lass's mouth, a worried look came into sight.

"Tell me, is Tachibana-senpai okay?"

The former shook her head, a sullen look spreading across her pretty face. "He's on a coma right now so I still do not know whether he's in a good condition or not."

"I...I see."

"At first... " She began and continued, "I was able to pay all the hospital bills with the help of Kamio-kun and the others but the bills had been getting way too expensive."

She paused and once again breathed in all the air that was near them. Her heartbeat gradually pounding at its normal rate.

"To add it all, we have other payments to pay to like water, electricity, our tuition fees in school and the remaining debts that father had before he died. Also, I don't want to bother the regulars because of my family's crisis so I was left with one solution…"

She then glanced at her curious seatmate. All the air she had before disappeared as she spoke the next words.

"I decided to go on prostitution."

Sakuno's eyes widened vastly at this.

"Of course…" The brown-haired girl continued on, diverting her gloomy gaze upwards the sky. "I know it was wrong but I was left with no other choice. I couldn't get a job because I was underage and all the other vacant jobs gave small salaries."

To Sakuno's surprise, tiny drops of fresh hot tears finally invaded her friend's eyes, her fist shaking violently as she gritted her teeth with self-hate.

For a second there Sakuno was speechless, a feeling of pity growing inside her.

Really, what kind of friend she was? How come she never knew about this? Not knowing that her friend was experiencing this kind of problem, she was really a complete dim-witted idiotic friend for that.

And to think that her life was the worst one is nothing compared to what her friend was dealing with right now.

If it were to happen to her, god knows what she would do.

Tears still gushing out from her eyes, the brown-haired girl smiled darkly and said, "Now I have to live with it for the rest of my life and I won't be able to face the others again if there were to know about this. Especially my big brother and also _him_…"

An tremblingly reached out for her wet face with both of her hands, uncontrollable stream of tears starting to seep into her vision. Since it was hard for her to talk, she started to breath abnormally, hiccupping every now and then.

Sakuno, who had seen her difficulty came to her aid and gently patted her back to calm her down, the worried look that had once graced her face still remained.

"An-chan…"

"I feel so bad about lying to them. I know I'm doing it for brother but…but-" **Hick** "–I can't just let brother die now can I? He's the only family I had left!" She exclaimed, furiously pressing her hands towards her face.

"An-chan, please calm yourself down…" She murmured in great concern. An needs comfort and being the only female friend that she had, it was Sakuno's duty to do so.

Nevertheless, the girl continued on with her dialogue as she turned to face her, anguish etched on her facial appearance.

"Tell me; is it wrong to do such act?! Is it wrong to sell your body for your brother's sake knowing that without money he would die?!"

Sakuno couldn't answer her enquiry so she only looks away as a reply.

"Tell me, is it wrong to give yourself for the better good?! Huh? Is it?!"

"I…"

"Well?! What are you waiting for? Tell me! I demand answers!!"

Sakuno knew that An didn't mean to scream at her like that because the girl was confused. She knew she was torn into two pieces and didn't know what else to do.

"I can't say you're wrong." came her response.

An instantly looked at her, blinking all her tears away in astonishment.

"But then again, I can't say that you're right either."

Again, the older girl flickers her eyes in perplexity. She expected the younger lass to give her an answer that supposedly opposed her question but was caught off guard at the girl's confusing statement.

"Wha-what do you mean by that?" An asked, choking out a curt question.

"All of us have different beliefs in life whether it is a good one or a bad one because everyone had their own personal reasons."

"I don't get it." The former admitted, shaking her head as a sign of her puzzlement.

Sakuno shifted in her seat, focusing on her companion.

"It's how we, the people in this society, perceive things whether it is bad or good." She paused, recollecting her breath. "You believed that what you're doing is correct because there are no other options left. In the eyes of others, they see it as a wrong move because it's immoral."

"Is...is that the reason why you couldn't say you're wrong or right? Because you think that we all have our own views?" An questioned.

Sakuno bobbed her head and then let out a short laugh. "Of course, this is just my point of view. I don't know about the others but this is what I believe in."

"You're logic is crazy and confusing." She then gave her a dry smile. "But then again effectively efficient."

Shortly, she joined her into laughter.

When everything died down, the younger schoolgirl took this as a chance to start a new conversation and opened her mouth to speak.

"But you know what? In actual fact, I kinda agree with you in some way."

An came to glance at her direction as she carried onto her talking. "Sometimes, you need to give up the things that you valued most to make things better. It can't be avoided."

Sakuno then looked upwards the setting sky while An had absentmindedly wiped the remaining waters in her eyes, her attention fixed on her auburn-haired friend all the time.

"I've been living my life for three years being this." She gestured her finger towards herself. "At first, I didn't mind but then people started looking at me and before I knew it, I was everyone's amusement."

She then flashed a bittersweet smile to no one particular. "Repeatedly, they would laugh, seeing me as a comical being as I pass them. To be honest, I sometimes wished that I could just vanish in this world and left all things behind. But then-"

Fudomine's only cheerleader raised an eyebrow at her as the braided maiden flushed thoroughly.

"But then, everything changed when Ryoma-kun-" The color of her blush deepened. "-had said that he's there to protect me. It was all so sudden but he was there to lighten up my day. Although he looked uncaring on the outside, he deeply cares to those people closest to him and encourages them with sharp words."

Out of the blue, a small sigh entered her hearing shot.

"Sakuno-chan is so lucky." Her girl friend mumbled with a hint of envy, eyeing the girl with her own swollen eyes. "I hope there was a guy who'd do something like that for me too. To protect me, to lighten up my day, to encourage me with life, to be there with me all the time…"

Afterwards, she hauled out a solitary sigh. "All I had were the regulars and as far as I'm concerned, they were too busy for the upcoming tournaments for them to give their time for me."

Sakuno's eyes softened with sorrow. "An-chan…"

The said girl gave off a painstaking glee, her hazy wet eyes twinkling dreamily as she faced the path up ahead.

"If someone was there for me then maybe I won't fall into this kind of fate that I am walking right now."

She then stared pointedly to the maiden's eyes and held her hands with her own.

Baffled at her impulsive actions, Sakuno asked, "An-chan?"

"You have a wonderful life, Sakuno." She started off, a ghost of smile apparent on her face. "You have great friends and great family while I have nothing."

The said teenager shook her head. "What are you talking about, An-chan? You have great friends! What about Kamio-senpai and…and Ibu-senpai? The rest of the regulars? What about Momo-senpai and the Seigaku regulars?"

She then paused, taking a deep breath.

"What about me? Am I not your friend?"

An could only smile good-naturedly at her, the grip on her hands tightened in a good way. "You're the only closest female friend I ever had, Sakuno-chan. Kamio-kun, Ibu-kun, Momo and all the other regulars are my friends too. But…"

"But?" It was obvious that there was desperation in Sakuno's voice. Never mind that, she wanted to know her reason right away.

The older girl released her hands as she spoke. "But judging by the turn of events, it's hard to tell what the future lies up ahead for me. You are my friend, yes and the others too."

"…"

"However" The tone of her voice suddenly changed drastically. "Once they learn about this, I don't think that kind of relationship would last any longer."

Seeing that the girl opened her mouth to speak, she hastily cut her off first. "I know them better, Sakuno-chan. They might not be that type of people to do things like that but sooner or later they'll be mortified of me."

She then heaved out a hopeless sigh.

"My future is so predictable." With that, she started crying noiselessly in her seat, letting all things dissolve in her tears.

Sakuno instantly embraced her friend in sympathy. After all, this was the only thing that she can give for now.

X0X0X0X0X0X

**Back at Tomoka's bedroom…**

"Where the hell is she?" The samurai junior asked to himself, his cat-eyes scanning back to the wall clock from time to time. It had been an hour since Sakuno had disappeared to buy some medicine yet the said girl still hasn't arrived.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance as a red vein attempts to pop out on his head anytime soon. Really, how long does it take to go to the pharmacy, buy some stupid medicine and get back here?

Surely, it won't take her a whole freaking' hour ne?

He snorted, resting his back at the doorframe. "She probably got lost on her way here again."

Now, he wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case. That girl had always been bad at directions. In fact, he remembered a certain memory in his first stay here in Japan that the girl had given him wrong directions where the tennis tournament was supposedly held.

He was even disqualified because he was 5 MINUTES LATE. 5 MINUTES LATE just because the girl had given him the wrong directions.

He then shook his head at the memory.

Yup, he wouldn't be surprised at all.

Lost in thought, a black figured quietly approached him from behind, ready to touch him at any chance. Ryoma, who had noticed someone else's presence immediately turned around for his protection, all set to kick the hell out of the intruder when a sight of a smiling woman greeted him. Thus, ceasing him from his aggressive actions.

"What's with that look?" The orange-haired woman asked, still beaming. "It's as if you've seen a killer on the loose or something."

"Sorry" He hurriedly placed his fist back to his pocket. "I thought you were someone else."

Takako chuckled lowly at him. "My, my, you sure are entertaining."

His eyes had accidentally landed on the object she's carrying.

"What's that?" He inquired, pointing his finger on the brown paper bag.

In an instant, her chuckling stopped.

"Oh that reminds me." She then raised the said object at hand and sauntered silently inside the room towards the sidetable. "I saw this paper bag in front of the doorstep."

"Hn"

She then started turning her head from left to right then came to look at him, only to raise a questioning eyebrow. "Where's Sakuno-san?"

The tennis prince shrugged nonchalantly, folding his arms back in front of his torso. "She's not yet here."

She batted her eyes twice, and then turned to the brown bag lying on the table.

"That's odd." She lifted the paper bag with her hand, eyeing it warily as if it were an alien. "Because this paper bag is filled with the medicines that Tomoka needed for her recovery. Who would be kind enough to drop this bag at the front door?"

Ryoma unconsciously dropped his arms to his side, his eyes meeting hers in surprise.

Certainly she has not forgotten all about him, did she?

X0X0X0X0X0X

After distractedly dropping the package at her friend's doorstep, she proceeded to head towards their house. Few more minutes and the light that lit up above the sky will turn to nightfall.

She nibbled her lip anxiously. Leaving Ryoma in Tomoka's house just like that will certainly result to incessant scolding from the prince himself in the next day.

He would definitely be very, very mad at her and that's bad thing. However, due to the exchange she had with her brown-haired friend a while ago, she needed to be alone for a while.

Arriving to her destination, she opened the front door and took off her shoes, hastily marching towards her only bedroom.

She then jumped into her cozy bed, her body bouncing up and down at the sudden impact.

She needed time to think. She also needed air to breathe and certainly she needed space to rethink.

Why?

Well, first thing's first; she learned that An, her sweet, loyal and not to mention innocent female friend from Fudomine High, had actually engaged herself to sexual business such as prostitution for money to pay off their bills.

Of course, she was horrified and at the same time troubled. God knows how many times she had slept with other men. Let alone slept with older men _twice or thrice_ as her age!

As a matter of fact, she could even get pregnant or worse…get infected with a contagious sexual transmission disease (known as STD) such as AIDS!

The thought of it send chills down to her spine.

An must be really desperate enough to actually manage herself to do it.

Kissing them, hugging them and then…I mean really, it was so _downright_ disturbing.

Add the fact that she had experienced difficulties in life doubled the already messed up situation.

Her father and mother dead, her relatives turning their backs on them, her brother on a coma and also boundless payments to pay…

It must be pretty hard for her.

For once, she was ashamed for herself for thinking that her life was the pits. She can't practically imagine herself into that kind of position if she and An switch lives even just for a day.

But then again, she can't blame the poor girl. Just as she said, she had no other choice. If An insisted to ask her brother's teammates for help, it would be too much. It was embarrassing enough that An had included them in her problem and if Sakuno remembered it correctly, she had also mentioned that the regulars were training very hard for the upcoming tournament.

These first two problems that she had learned were nothing to worry about. Sure, she's her friend and she can do things to help her out. One of it is keeping these secrets amongst themselves which is basically the hardest problem at hand.

Now, Sakuno is not known to be a gossiper or the one who foolishly spreads personal things about other people's confidential lives. Trust her when it comes to these things. Always been trustworthy, obedient and loyal when it comes to her friends' private life. True, she is a girl and when it comes to girls, these things are mostly unavoidable, considering some female species does not have a tendency to keep quiet.

However, just because she is trustworthy that doesn't mean she could zip her knowledge about it forever. After all, she is a _girl_ too. There's always been a limit of her being a secret-keeper and she vaguely wondered out loud on herself on how long she could keep her mouth shut about this secrecy.

A throbbing headache soon emerged within her as she lay there pondering in silence. She felt the inner muscles tempting to free themselves out from her skin with her eyes steadily closed.

Well, she did promised to the girl that she would do her best not to tell anyone about it. She might as well avoid talking about the very topic until the right times comes.

As much as a worried friend that she is, there's nothing that she can do for her right now other than keeping her friend's affairs to themselves.

Sakuno Ryuzaki then sighed in pure frustration.

Really, who knew that keeping secret can be so troublesome?

Rolling over towards her side, the lass clutched the thick bed sheets firmly when a question popped out from no where.

What will she do if she was in An's position?

Assuming that her grandmother was the one on coma; will she sell her body off in exchange for money?

Will she also do the exact thing? Enduring the pain and sleep with various men?

She scowled at the thought then started slapping herself repeatedly. "Mou…why am I thinking such things? I'm not the one on her position!"

She then tossed herself to the right, her features softening.

"I…I mean, I would never do that, right?" She asked out loud, pertaining to no one but to herself alone.

She abruptly sat up straight afterwards, gazing at the oval-shaped mirror standing opposite to her where the clear reflection of her own could be seen.

She then flashed a cynical smile to herself. Her once neat hairdo looked disheveled at her incessant tossing on the bed.

_Of course, I would never do that. I'm not that kind of girl to do such things._ She defended stubbornly as she began flattening her messy locks with her supple hands.

However, even in great conviction, such persistence does not mean you can perpetually prevent things that you had vowed to yourself.

Everything happens without prior notice.

Sometimes, fate can be good. At times, it can be cruel just like life itself. Because whether you like it or not, it comes around in a playful, tricky way.

You never know when it hits you. It's simple as that.

Just because she told herself she wouldn't do that kind of things that doesn't mean it won't happen to her.

Who knows?

It might happen tomorrow, the day after that or maybe…today, right at this very moment.

Anything could happen to anyone in a blink of an eye.

And in Sakuno's case…well, we'll just have to see what would happen next.

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* * *

I would like to thank all the readers who bothered to submit their reviews in the previous chapter. Also, I would like to apologize about the fact that I chose An as the prostitute. Don't get me wrong, I like the girl. Although Reiko is a good candidate, she already had a role in the story which is far than being Sakuno's enemy (you'll find out soon enough).

Oh and the one who got the correct answer in my first question is fifi46227 and in my second question...the answer is a motel (Love hotel) so basically no one got the correct answer. To those who had tried and participated in my guessing game, thank you very much!

Well, until next time, okay? Cheerios!

Riza


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello, hello again! Fifth chapter is up! _

_Sorry for the long wait...it's just that well...I've been pretty busy reading online manga these days. Really, who knew that I would be so absorb with it?_

_Oh well, enjoy! _

* * *

**Chapter 5:** Rumors, Misunderstandings and Loathing

"_Sakuno-chan…"_

"_Yes?"_

_The former twirled around to look at her. _

"_Promise me-" The grip on her skirt tightened. "-promise me that you'll live your life without regrets, okay?"_

_The said girl blinked in puzzlement. "Eh?"_

"_Please..." The other continued, the solemn look on her face says that she was being serious about the matter. "Please promise me that."_

_Sakuno lifted her lips upwards amiably. _

"_Of course…"_

**Beep! Beep!**

**Beep! Beep!**

Startled at the deafening sound of alarm clock ringing, she jerked up in her bed as sweat trickled down on her temples. She glanced around her surroundings. Sunlight was now coming in her sanctuary, peeking at the pink curtains that supposedly block any light to enter the room.

"W-wha? What was…?"

Looking at the time, she scowled. _6:30 a.m.? _

Sighing, her eyes locked on the white ceiling above.

"So it wasn't a dream after all…"

After smacking the alarm clock off and jumped out of her messy bed, she groggily did her daily routine and walked out of the room. She then entered the dining room and saw her grandmother preparing breakfast. When the said woman spotted her in the middle of her work, she was taken aback when the old woman disregarded her presence and continued with her own business.

_Must have woken up with a bad side of a day._ The braided girl assumed and ended up agreeing with a shrug.

To announce her presence, she faked a cough. "Good morning, grandma!"

Sumire gave her a fleeting look before she resumed on her work.

"Quite energetic with everything, huh?" Her grandmother asked in a stern voice, placing the last plateful of food into the table as the teen sat on the vacant chair.

She frowned at her lack of optimism. "You look rather petulant today, grandma." She remarked, stabbing the scrambled egg with her fork. She arched her vision towards her again and asked, "Something wrong?"

Instead of responding with words, she idly dropped a bunch of paper in front of her and sat down onto the other side of the table, frowning.

The teen could only raise her eyebrow at the sight. "Eh?"

"Don't you even recognize your own paper work when you see one?"

With her eyebrows still raised up, she gazed at the papers one by one. As she scrutinized the whole contents, she was shocked to realize that this was indeed her school work in English and other subjects that got a low grade or a zero grade.

While scanning it one by one, she stumbled out a question. "H-how did you…?"

"Find it you say? Well…I found all of them in your closet while I was cleaning." The old lady breathed in and continued, "I must say you're quite poor at hiding the things you don't want me to see, dear."

Her gaze suddenly dropped on her lap. "Grandma, I…"

"It seems you've gotten reckless these days." She shook her head off. "What's going on, huh Sakuno? Is school really that hard enough for you that you couldn't even get at least a passing grade? This isn't like you at all."

"I…I'm just not being with myself lately, grandma." She admitted matter-of-factly, her uneasy gaze unmoving.

"I know that and I've notice it too for the past few days. But just because something's bothering you doesn't mean you can start slacking off like that."

The maiden clutched the edge of her skirt, biting her lip. "I…I know, grandma but I'm really trying hard to be good though."

"But it's not good enough!" The older woman of the household yelled while slamming her fist into the table, startling the poor girl in the process.

"I don't know what's going on with you but I won't tolerate this kind of behavior. I didn't raise you all by myself to become a freeloader in the future."

Silence

"I want you to become successful, Sakuno. I want you to be happy with whatever you chose in your life. Not to become a hopeless woman." She heaved out a heavy sigh. "Now, do not think that I am merely doing this to satisfy myself. I am doing this for you. Because I'm worried about you and your future. Do you even understand me?"

"Yes" came her low whisper.

The tennis coach could only sigh with a deepened frown. "I'm very, very disappointed with you, Sakuno."

"Grandma…"

"Very disappointed." She added in as an afterthought, standing up from her seat. "I'm no longer hungry so eat your breakfast up. Also, I received a call earlier from Echizen that he will be picking you up in the way so be ready."

Afterwards, she left the room, leaving Sakuno who was now starting to lose her own appetite.

As soon as finished up her food, she left the house with a gloomy face. The exchange she had with her grandmother saddens the poor girl. To add it all, the memories about yesterday's events suddenly flashed back into her mind, totally not helping her situation at all.

If there was one thing she hated most, it was making her grandmother become disappointed of her. After years of living with her, she had continuously exerted an enormous effort to make the old lady to be at least proud of what she had done and what she can do despite the fact that she wasn't an athletic type like the rest of the Ryuzaki family.

And to think that she was expecting much of her. The things that she wasn't even sure that she could even achieve it in the future...

It was pretty upsetting to her part.

With large eyes closed, she heaved out a tired sigh.

"Maybe I should just forget about it?"

"Hn, just like what you did yesterday." A new gruffly voice chimed in from behind.

At that very moment, Sakuno Ryuzaki was beyond frozen and petrified. No matter where she is right now, she could always recognize the owner of that beautiful voice anywhere around the globe.

Halfheartedly, she slowly turned around. Just as expected, it was the prince of tennis himself, scowling with his arms firmly crossed across his well-built chest. He was emitting this red fuming aura around him that clearly states that he was not in a good mood ever since the crack of dawn.

Within an instant, she flashed him a one big fake cheerful smile. The least she can do is brighten up his sour day.

"Ah! Good morning, Ryoma-kun!" Of course, that was a big mistake for the tennis prince seems to be the type of a person that couldn't be easily bribed at some things.

Well, this is going to be a long, long walk.

X0X0X0X0X0X

Later than the very long lecture and not to mention continuous tantrums from the young samurai, the pair proceeded to enter the classroom as soon as both of them arrived at the campus grounds. Ryoma, who was a regular member of a boy's tennis club, was supposedly to attend the morning practices for the preparation of the upcoming intra-school tournament next week. However, due to his inconsistent schedule (if there was one to begin with), he stubbornly miss out the practice again.

Because of this, a certain captain who always seemed to deadpan all the time was left livid. His eyes akin to a sharp hawk had stared pointedly to the running members of the club, gnashing his teeth from time to time because of a particular freshman who had once again, failed to come to participate in their so-called hard training.

The moment the two (Ryoma and Sakuno) penetrated the classroom, all noise was quickly put to stop and all actions immediately ceased into stillness.

Sakuno started biting her bottom lip nervously. An old habit of hers that she never came to surpass since childhood.

She was fully aware that this isn't just the very first time her classmates have been acting very weird. Of course, she wouldn't mind…really. All these kind of attentions she received…she was already used to it. However, she really couldn't pretend to ignore the feeling any longer. They were looking straight at her like she was some kind of freaking alien who just appeared out of nowhere from outer space.

Glancing at her male companion beside her, she was indeed amazed that the boy wasn't bothered at their classmates' peculiar behavior at all. In fact, he doesn't seem to mind any of them as he resumed walking towards his own desk.

Well, it's either that or he's really too dense to know what was happening around him.

As she managed to make her way towards her empty desk (with her trying to ignore all the uncomfortable feeling she had within her), the teacher came in and began giving each other the usual greetings before they started their class.

X0X0X0X0X0X

**Bell ringing…**

"That is all for today, class. See you tomorrow." said Hara-sensei, their English teacher, before she sauntered out of the room.

With time flying so fast, everyone was now preparing to leave school. Surprisingly, the braided maiden wasn't. All throughout the day, Sakuno wasn't paying any attention to her teachers and instructors.

It appears that she was distracted at certain things.

Things were much more different than she imagined right now, starting with An. Although it wasn't her business to begin with, the thought of her friend doing prostitution and keeping it as a secret was bugging her to no end.

She couldn't think right, she couldn't eat right, and she couldn't even sleep right that even her old grandmother is beginning to worry about her.

Speaking of her grandmother, the words she had heard earlier in the morning really added her troubled mind.

"_I'm very, very disappointed with you, Sakuno."_

She cringed bitterly at the memory. The words she had spoken were sufficient to make her even more miserable.

For once, she hated herself. Letting these things get into her life and her studies...

Her grandmother is right. She was being sloppy and irresponsible.

Massaging her temples, she groaned as she felt another headache coming.

_Ugh…I really need to stop thinking too much._

"We're leaving now, Ryuzaki-san!" The chubby girl was snapped back from her silent musing. It was a girl with short brown hair standing on her right, clutching her schoolbag as she gave her a smile. Standing beside the girl were other two girls. All have the smiles etched on their faces.

She returned the same gesture. "Oh, okay."

The others started bidding and waving their hands goodbye as they made their way towards the door. She, in return, also did the same thing.

Don't get her wrong. Sakuno isn't a plastic or a faker for that matter. Although she was oblivious at the reason of their sudden actions, she wouldn't dare to question nor doubt other people. She has always been considerate enough not to pry because she respected them.

However, after noticing the incident in the cafeteria earlier this lunch from the other class, she will take attention to it even if other people regarded her as a meddler. She needed to find out what was going on. Given that her only best friend had called in sick for today once again; she'll have to deal of it all by herself whatever it takes.

Besides, it's been annoyingly bugging her for days now and she was beyond to the limit where she'd shout her lungs out to ask what the hell was wrong.

Seriously, it was driving her nuts!

Sighing, she stood up from her seat and collected her belongings; still absorb in deep thought. If she were to discover what was happening, how will she start? It would be pretty stupid to ask one of her classmates what the fuss is all about, knowing that they would tell untruthful stories seeing that she was somehow a part of it.

For the fourth time today, she heaved out a sigh.

_If only Tomo-chan was here then I would be able to get good information. _

Absentmindedly diverting her gaze at her far right, she came to notice a vacant seat at the back. It was a shock that the Terrible three's only leader, Reiko, had also called in sick today.

Right away, the girl snorted. The hell she cares if that girl's sick. Usually, when Reiko is not present, she would inwardly jump in delight for that very news.

Then again, this is a different story.

Sure, people get sick all the time. However, with the knowledge of Ryoma's fan club president still under par, the opportunity to become the temporary club president is too much to ignore. Knowing Reiko, she would instantly grab this chance once again for Sakuno was certain that the girl wasn't satisfied enough of her reign of terror for the past few days.

So then, why wasn't she here as always? That she didn't know. But enough of that, she shouldn't be wasting her time dealing with these nonsense.

_But then again… with no Reiko in sight to piss you all the time is quite a dream come true. I do hope it stays this way for eternity though._

With one last belonging, she zipped her bag shut and headed out for the exit. Bearing in mind that Ryoma was attending afternoon practices today, she'll have to wait for him before it ends to avoid upsetting him again. Ever since that incident in Tomoka's place, she knew that the prince wouldn't let her off this time. If she were ever to leave without his permission, certainly she'll get another nonstop lecture from him in the next day.

"Now that I think about it. Ryoma-kun acts as if he's my boyfriend or something." She ended with a shrug.

Oh well, boyfriend or not she might as well wait for him.

Heading towards the tennis courts was no big deal. No matter how bad she is when it comes to directions, the girl knows at heart where it is. Yet on her way there, she suddenly felt this hot sensation tingling between her long legs. With quick realization, she went to an immediate stop and before she knew it, her legs hurriedly brought her into the direction of the girl's restroom in a wobbling manner.

She let out a pleased moan. _Mou…I thought I was going to explode!_

It was embarrassing, yes, but she was thankful to the gods above that no one was able to saw her. It could have been more embarrassing if someone were to witness her running towards the bathroom just because she was about to go pee.

Heh…it would be way too humiliating! And the thought of it left the girl flushing in embarrassment.

While doing her -ahem- business, loud footsteps pierced into her hearing, indicating that there was someone other than her is present. She waited a little longer, not planning to get up any time sooner until she's finished when the newcomers' voices spoke up.

"Hey, did you know about the rumor?" A girl said while opening the water faucet.

She knew whose voice it belonged to. It was from one of her female classmates who also happened to be under Tomoka's club supervision.

In addition, she's the one who first bids her goodbye a while ago.

"The rumor?" asked the other. "Oh yes, I've heard about it."

_The rumor? What rumor? _The rising curiosity within her is really killing her slowly.

"Is it really true?" asked the latter.

"Yes, of course it's true!" answered the former. "I was there when Ryoma-sama had said it."

_Ryoma-sama? Ryoma-kun?_

A new voice piped in. "Wow, to think that he would say something like that. He must really care for her that much, huh?"

By now, Sakuno had her eyebrows furrowed. _Who is 'her'?_

"I mean, he wouldn't bother threatening Reiko and her girls about it if he wasn't, right?"

The first girl scoffed as she turned the faucet off. "Well, she is their previous coach's granddaughter. Although, he did extend to the point that he would ban his own fan club if they were to cause trouble at her again."

The chubby lass's eyes widened at this. _So they are talking about me!_

"But I don't understand…" muttered the second girl in bafflement as she continued, "If he was only aiming this to his fan club then why is the whole class affected about this too?"

"You idiot!" exclaimed the former as the sound of a hand dryer resounds. "Don't tell me you didn't know about that?"

"Yeah" The third voice butted in. "Everyone inside our class, with the exception of Ryuzaki of course, practically knows about it!"

The second girl grunted at this. "That's why I'm asking, sheesh!"

"Alright, alright, we'll tell you." The first girl paused and then asked, "Have you seen Ryuzaki in the magazine?"

"Are you talking about the swimsuit magazine?"

"Yeah, that one." The third girl answered wryly. "At the start of the magazine's release date, Ryoma-sama had already ordered all the magazines to be burned before Ryuzaki could step her foot in this school."

"Eh?! Does Ryoma-sama even have the power to do that?"

"Of course, dummy! He's a member of the student council, remember?"

The girl was silent for a minute then responded, "Oh yeah"

The dryer was turned off and a shuffling pair of feet can be heard again. "And he even threatened all the students who had seen the article not to speak of its contents or he'll announce a project concerning the whole student body undergoing a citizen army training on every dismissal time during schooldays."

"And what's more is that this idea is also supported by the regulars who are in the student council!"

"Eh?! Really?! Wow…I never knew Ryuzaki is really that much to them."

_So am I._ Sakuno added in silently. The grip of her clasped hands tightened.

She doesn't know whether she's going to be happy about this or not but the moment someone spoke out the next dreadful facts, she was frozen shock in disbelief.

"It's what Reiko-sama had said really." whispered the first girl. "The real reason behind it is because Ryuzaki's grandmother has strong connections to the members of Junior Tennis Association in Japan and if she were seen being hurt by others, she'd blame the regulars about it."

"And if that's the case then she might use her connection to ban them from tennis forever. Besides…" The third one trailed off and resumed, "Knowing how formidable her grandmother can be when it comes to her only granddaughter, anything can be done by that old witch within a snap."

"How unfair!" The second girl shouted. "So unfair!"

"Yeah and it's making me gag too." The former muttered with great distaste. "Every time I see Ryuzaki's freaking fat face makes me wanna slap her hard there and then but I couldn't because Ryoma-sama and the others are watching. I mean, who knew that behind that sweet innocent-looking mask of hers lies an innocent mischievous devil?"

The first girl sneered crudely. "She's such a spoiled little bitch. To tell you all the truth, my face is already in the verge of cracking up with all the fake smiles I'm giving her."

"Hmm…that would've explain why everyone around the school would suddenly flash a finger on her behind her back."

The second girl chuckled wholeheartedly. "Yeah and the poor little witch's so oblivious about it. She doesn't even have a single idea that everyone around the school is not exactly very fond of her."

Soon, she was joined with her two friends, laughing their hearts out as they left the vicinity while Sakuno, who have hidden in one of the many small compartments, sobbed quietly. The tears that she was struggling so hard to fight back fell like running waters.

As if it wasn't painful enough at what she had experienced before with Reiko's cruel words. Acquiring this new knowledge is greedily eating her up inside, her heart shredded to small pieces as if it was being stepped by a thousand times over and over again.

_No…I must not cry._ She inwardly told herself hardheadedly, wiping all her tears away with her sleeve. _It's only a rumor. If it were true then…_

After securing everything, she stood up from her position before trudging away with heavy footsteps out of the room.

On her way towards the boy's tennis clubhouse, only one thought crossed on her mind.

_I'm going to ask them personally! _

It was her determination that fueled the remaining dignity that she could possibly posses after going through such a hard life.

As she was just a hand away from the clubhouse, sounds of husky voices had instantly greeted her sensitive hearing. With a thought that eavesdropping is a big no-no, Sakuno took a step backward, quite hesitant to go in when she heard someone vaguely mentioned her name.

"Hey, how's Ryuzaki-chan doing lately, ochibi?"

The chubby girl is not deaf nor that dense; she knew who the owner of the voice belonged to. Of all the times she have spent with them during their junior high school days as her being a silent cheerleader and them being the tennis players, she already memorized their voices. It didn't take her a whole second to recognize whose voice it belongs to.

Plus, the word 'ochibi' is a dead giveaway too.

She leaned her ear more closely into the door, listening at their current conversation.

The said 'ochibi' made a sound that she couldn't make out as he responded, "Fine"

The person clapped his hands gleefully. "That's good! At least all our efforts aren't wasted!"

_Efforts?_

"I heard that you walked Ryuzaki-san home, Echizen." Fuji muttered with an amused tone. "Do you mind telling us the whole story?"

"Nothing much. The other day she left me alone with Osakada."

"Eh?! Osakada-chan? But she's absent, nya!" A scratching of the person's head was heeded.

"Ryuzaki and I came to visit her." came the short reply.

"More like _she_ came to visit her." Momo sarcastically corrected. "You were never the type to visit sick people. Much less to Osakada-chan."

Ryoma snorted. "Tch, that's the same thing she said to me too and she was annoying me nonstop about me being attracted to Ryuzaki."

"Well, aren't you attracted to her?" was Kikumaru's controversial question and Sakuno bit her lips as she waited his reply.

There was a pregnant of silence before he could manage to make a comeback. "No"

Then, she heard someone being placed into a headlock.

"Hey!"

"Man Echizen, there's no point of denying it. It's obvious that you have a thing for Ryuzaki-chan." At this, Sakuno could tell that her senpai was grinning from ear to ear who seemed pleased with the situation.

The aforesaid boy struggled at his tight grasp as the two of his senpais chuckled at his futile attempts.

"Ne, let go of me, Momo-senpai!"

"Eh? What's this? You're blushing!"

"Hmm…100 percent that he is."

"Saa…maybe his feelings is true after all."

Wriggling, he cried, "T-hat's…be…c-cause…Momo-senpai's c-choking me!"

"Oh really? You were already blushing before that!"

"Aw c'mon, ochibi, just say it, you know."

"Yeah Echizen, it wouldn't hurt admitting the truth!"

"Ugh! D-damn, I can't b-breath!"

"Come on you guys, stop it. You're killing him!"

"With my 8 years of tennis experience, I can tell that Echizen really liked Ryuzaki-san from the very beginning. Although, I have to say that he's really good at hiding about it."

Subsequently, there were incessant grunting and indignant cursing coming out from prince's mouth.

Minutes passed with him struggling to break free from his senpai's grasp, he was finally freed from the suffocating grip.

"Aw, look at him."

"Ochibi's finally growing up, nya!"

"Tsk, tsk, so young, so young. Ah, it's so good to be young!"

"Will you all stop this nonsense already?!"

Immediately, all actions ceased and Sakuno's eyes widened at his sudden outburst.

"Well, we would if you would just admit that you like little Ryuzaki-chan."

Ryoma scoffed at his statement. "What's there to admit? I don't even like that girl. She's damn annoying and pathetic."

Once again, she found her widened vision soaked with fresh hot tears.

Like it wasn't enough, he added with a huff, "She's always being bullied. It was tiring that I had to back her up all the time. If only she wasn't Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter then I would've long ignored her."

"H-hey…Echizen…"

"That was kinda mean, ochibi. You don't have to end up insulting her like that."

The young prodigy's reply was accompanied with another snort. "As if you people really like her that way." Then he turned towards the door.

"Well of course we-"

Ryoma ignored his senpai and came to open the door. When he did, everything around him went still.

Noticing the abrupt silence of their kouhai, Momo and Kikumaru approached him from behind.

"Hey Echizen, what's holding you up?"

No response

"Hey dude, what's the ma-" His sentence was cut off as the sight of their very topic stood in front of their doorway, already soaked in tears.

"R-Ryuzaki-chan?" Eiji choked out in alarm. Just about now, all the club members excluding Tezuka could see her.

Nonetheless, Sakuno wasn't looking at them. She was rather too busy glaring at a certain someone with hateful soggy eyes. Ryoma, in the other hand, remained rooted in his spot. He couldn't even lift his feet to budge out of the way.

"So…it's true huh?" She inquired with a sorrowful smile. "About everything?"

"R-Ryuzaki, I'm so-"

Instantaneously, he was welcomed with one hard-hitting painful slap in the face. Momo, Kikumaru and the rest of the members who were in there had witnessed everything with their jaws hanging.

"Y-you…!" She yelled, her voice quivering while pointing her finger at him. "I…I trusted you!" Another tear rolled off her red cheek. "I believed in you!"

Silence

"I…I thought you were my friend…" Again, a tear rolled off. "I knew it was too good to be true."

For once, Ryoma was speechless. He couldn't even look at her in the eye anymore.

"Why? Why, Ryoma-kun? Did I do anything to you? Did I really bother you that much?" Biting her lip tremblingly, she continued, "If that is so the why didn't you tell me in the first place instead of mouthing off behind my back?"

He came to face her again. "Ryuzaki, I…"

"You know what? Forget it." She said, waving him off. "I know you…no all of you were only protecting me because I happen to be the so-called Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter. Why? Is it because you're all afraid that grandma might spoil your tennis career?"

Oishi frowned in confusion. "Ryuzaki-san, we don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah" Kikumaru and Momo chorused defensively.

She shook her head with a dry smile. "Don't bother making up a lie now, senpais. It's no use anymore. I already know the truth. Although I have to admit I'm quite glad that I was able to know about this." She then gave the young prodigy a dislike side-glance and Ryoma inwardly grimaced at the look she was giving him.

Fuji instantly walked up to her. "Ryuzaki-san, I think you misunderstood us. We were only doing this for your own good-"

"For what?!" She shouted as a set of tears furiously cascaded down into her swollen eyes. "I understand that all of your future is much more important but do you even know that you're all hurting me inside? No! You all didn't!"

"We were only doing this because we want you to be happy."

"Do I look happy to you, Oishi-senpai?" She countered while advancing towards him. "Do you all think that I'm pleased with the fact that everyone in this school detests me with every fiber of my being because of what you all did?"

"Ryuzaki-san, we didn't intend to hurt you or anything. We were only-"

She didn't give them any chance to voice out their reasons. She glowered at them with complete abhorrence as she spoke.

"I don't need your protection! I don't need any of your pity and most definitely-"

She then glanced at Ryoma with clenched teeth and fists. The abhorrence she felt ago doubled up as she met his guilty gaze.

"I don't need you!!" She screamed from atop of her lungs, stomping her feet fiercely with her eyes closed. "I hate you and I most definitely despise you!!"

She then came to face at them. Her puffy eyes glaring heatedly.

"All of you! I wish you'd all lose your careers for good!!" After that, she ran and ran, so fast that even no one could catch up to her with tears still on tow.

She didn't stop. She continued to run away regardless of how tired her knees are or how rigid her breathing is. As she sprinted away from the school and from everyone else, she didn't dare to look back. Not minding that they were in fact looking at her when she passes them.

Even if she's already beyond her limit, she still didn't stop. She would continue to run…running so far away until her knees decided to give in.

Her appearance…

Her classmates and friends…

Her grandmother…

Heart aching memories and unpleasant experiences…

Her life…

All of them consist of nothing more but pure agony.

Forget the part that she was betrayed by the person she sincerely loved for so many years. Her main concern now is that everyone hates her. It was already bad enough that she was being laughed all the time and now with the knowledge that everyone loathes her is really taking the toll out of her as a person.

At this very moment in her life, she wholeheartedly wished she could just disappear, walking away like a ghost that would soon fade together with life's bitterness and sourness.

It was killing her inside. The pain she felt right now is immeasurable than what she have before.

After hours of running to god who knows where, her legs had finally admitted in defeat. Sinking into her knees, she felt as if her whole world is starting to torn apart.

The numbing of her knees…

The thumping of her heart…

The rigidness of her breathing…

The continuous flow of her endless tears…

Everything in her body seems to be paralyzed and could no longer take another step forward. Her body refusing to follow her persistent command even if she wanted to.

_Is this really it? Am I really this weak that I couldn't even stand up anymore?_ She thought, gritting her teeth furiously. The grief and sorrow she had felt had come to the point of massive hate towards everyone, to her life and even to herself.

Recalling the very incident from the restaurant…she'd really wish to live in iniquity than to live as an abandoned outcast in the society or better yet, to die and to disappear in this vile world she's currently living.

With no one to run to, what's the use? Everyone practically detest her while she in return didn't even do anything wrong.

She was the victim here and no one is even willing enough to comfort her when she needed it the most.

Being mocked and scorned by others were too much of her fragile heart.

Banging her shaking fist repeatedly into the ground, she cried, "Why? Why is this happening to me? I didn't do anything bad did I? I'm being a good girl just like what grandma wanted me to be! I really am! Why?!"

She then faced heavenwards where the once blue sky started pouring heavy waters, making her all drenched from head to toe. The fresh tears of agony that she just shed were now mixed with the sky's raindrops.

"I wonder…if I were to disappear, will everyone shed tears for me?"

"It depends if you're dead." came the unexpected answer from someone.

Jolted away from her cogitation, the braided maiden instantly turned around and what greeted her blurry sight was none other than a pair of green eyes staring down at her own brown ones.

"What the hell are you thinking lying on a wet ground?" The newcomer questioned with a raise of an eyebrow.

Sakuno squinted at her blurred vision more closely, attempting to get a clear view of the newcomer. She was wearing a green school uniform under a yellow raincoat with a yellow umbrella at hand.

After a few seconds, she was able to get a clear view of the person's face and straight away, realization dawned upon her.

"R-Reiko Ota-san…"

* * *

_Once again...a cliffhanger! He he...:)_

_So what exactly is Reiko up to this time? And what's going to happen to our dear Sakuno-chan from now on? Is Ryoma being serious to what he had said about her? Find out about it in the next chapter folks! _

_Again, stay tune for the next one. **Next chapter...Chapter 6: Influence**_

_Please do not forget to drop by and submit your reviews if you have something to say, alright? Suggestions, Corrections, Clarifications and not to mention Constructive Criticisms are highly appreciated. Thank you!_

_Riza_


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